It depends on whether you are talking about the linguistics of the title or the theology of the title. “Theotokos,” an early Greek name for Mary, is often translated to “Mother of God.” According to scholars, a more accurate translation would be “the one who gave birth to the one who is God.” So in that sense, “birthgiver” is probably a more linguistically accurate title, at least if you look at the original Greek.
On a theological level, though, “Mother of God” is perfectly correct. If Jesus was both fully God and fully human, and Mary was his mother, then yes, it is accurate to call Mary the Mother of God. This does not mean that she existed before God; rather, it means that she was the mother of Jesus…

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 and St. Gregory the Great. These sins are considered deadly or capital (from the Latin word for head; caput). In the Bible, there are examples of lists of sins, such as Proverbs 6:16-19 and Galatians 5:19-21, however, these are not specifically the 7 Deadly sins of pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth (acedia), as they are enumerated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1866. At various points in the Bible, all 7 of these sins are proscribed. Traditionally, the Church has also provided virtues that counteract these…

The Philippine islands were colonized by the Spanish, who began to build settlements there in the late 16th century. The Spanish practice of colonization was to impose not only political rule but also religious hegemony; the cross and the sword went hand in hand during the Spanish imperial period throughout the world. Thus Christian missionaries suppressed Islam and the various indigenous religious traditions found in the Philippines and replaced them with Spanish baroque Catholic Christianity. Today Catholicism in the Philippines has its distinct sensibilities but also has deep roots in the religious practices and traditions brought from Spain. Although other Christian groups and other religions…

Walk away–just as you would do if there were a company selling credit cards or any other group on campus that you’re not interested in.
Being aggressively approached by a religious group is a serious problem on many of the Campuses in the United States. Some groups have invited people into their churches and then berated their religion. Others are quite inviting and appropriate at the same time. They let people understand what they are about and then they give them the freedom to come and go as they please.
Some are cults, a serious issue. Any group that tries to deprive you of sleep, makes unreasonable demands on your time, or tries to seclude you from family or friends is one to avoid.
Most campuses have…

The Church is very clear. Full, complete, genital sexual activity is reserved for those in the sacramental covenant of marriage.
Let me gently challenge the “where should the line be drawn” type questions. Love is not a reality that is measured and molded by rigid rules. The reality of love, God’s very self, is the transformation of human persons into beings who can live forever with God. That transformation begins when we are conceived and is marked by our Baptism. Any and everything we choose to do should be in tune with that transformation of our hearts and minds and souls.
The challenge for those who are not married is to find appropriate and just ways of expressing what their relationship means. The “100…

On a rainy August evening in 1879, in the town of Knock in County Mayo, Ireland, several witnesses saw three figures standing outside the parish church. They described the three figures as Mary, standing in the center; St. Joseph, on her right; and St. John the Evangelist, standing on Mary’s left. Behind the three was an altar upon which rested a lamb. The scene lasted for nearly two hours, and none of the three figures spoke or moved. In all, fifteen witnesses reported seeing the apparition.
Traditionally, the apparitions at Knock have attracted even more skepticism than usually greets Marian apparitions because they are so “outside of the mold” of most visions: Mary appeared not singly, but with others,…

Pope Benedict XVI is from the German state of Bavaria, a region which is predominately Catholic and sometimes described as the “most religious state in Germany.” It is home to the village of Oberammergau, whose famous passion play, produced only every 10 years, draws hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world. Bavaria is also known for its religious festivals, including Carnival, Easter, Pentecost and Christmas (which is celebrated with elaborate street markets, performances and processions). Although these are Christian holidays, the accompanying celebrations also take on a Bavarian civic and cultural flavor. As a child growing up in a devout Catholic family, Pope Benedict XVI participated…

Certainly. However, you should investigate a few things. Is the retreat an “interfaith” retreat or is it run by a non-denominational church? There’s a huge difference there. The Campus Ministry Association or other governing body would be a good place to ask about those running the retreat. Are they well-known to the University community? That’s a good sign if they are, that the retreat is welcoming all faiths and not simply trying to recruit members from other churches by disguising themselves as a non-denominational retreat or bible study.
That being said, several campuses I know have done an interfaith retreat successfully with equal representation from all faiths. The experience…

On September 19, 1846, two children in the French village of La Salette saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary. Eleven-year-old Maximin Giraud and his friend Mélanie Matthieu (some sources say she was fourteen, others fifteen) saw a beautiful woman inside a glowing sphere of light. The woman, who was weeping and wore a crucifix around her neck, spoke to the children and told them of her sadness at the sins of humanity. She expressed her sorrow that the faithful were not observing Sunday as the Lord’s day, urged the children to pray morning and evening, and warned of an impending epidemic of disease as well as the failure of several kinds of crops. She also gave the children private messages, telling them to share them…

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 get the name of the individual. In many ways, this creates a bit of a mystery with regards to these characters, similar to the mystery that surrounded the masked Lone Ranger (an old TV Western) which led people to ask, “Who was that masked man?”
In some cases, minor characters do receive a name such as Simon of Cyrene who helped Jesus carry his Cross, Zacchaeus, the tax collector with whom Jesus ate dinner, and Barabbas, the criminal who won his release instead of Jesus at the hands of Pontius Pilate. In other cases,…

The term “transculturation” was coined by 20th century Cuban sociologist and ethnologist Fernando Ortiz. He proposed the term in contrast to the word “acculturation,” which describes the process of transition from one culture to another on the part of an individual or a group.
Transculturation, on the other hand, refers to the encounter between or among cultures in which each one acquires or adapts elements of the other(s) or in which new cultural elements are created. Ortiz found this a more appropriate (and less ethnocentric) term to describe the processes of cultural change at work in the creation of Cuban culture. In the encounter between races, he described five phases of transculturation,…

The simple answer is “Yes.” The priest may just have forgotten to lead the community in the prayer or may have a good pastoral reason for omitting it (e.g., a baptism during Mass, time constraints, etc.)
Could I also gently challenge the questioner? Where do these “does it count” questions come from? What spirit elicits in us this need or desire to worry about what “counts”? For some, Mass devolves into doing the bare minimum: “Does Mass “count” if I’m there from offertory to communion?” And those who leave before the final blessing make me wonder why they come at all, although again, maybe someone has a real need to leave immediately after communion: e.g., a sick child or elderly parent who…

Religious imagery is found in many gangs, for a variety of reasons. In the case of Our Lady of Guadalupe, she is a cultural and national icon as much as a religious one (as the patron saint of Mexico, she is a familiar and beloved figure). That said, people who work with gang members say that gangs often derive a certain feeling of power or protection from images of Mary or of Jesus. Many gang members (even those from Catholic families) are not particularly knowledgeable about the teachings of Catholicism, but they do recognize these religious images as being important and inherently worthy of respect. On another level, the fact that gangs often invoke religious figures may indicate that the members are searching…

God does not desire that we suffer. God realizes that creation has gone horribly wrong (that’s what the book of Genesis gets at poetically). God’s plan is to respond with the power of Divine redemptive and healing love to the ways in which creation has gone awry. God’s love is the transformative power of the Holy Spirit given us in our relationship with Jesus.
The reality is that suffering in human life is a given. God desires to save us from suffering and death. I have often preached, “There are only two things of which I am absolutely certain. One is that God loves us. Two, human persons suffer.” No one has ever disagreed with number two.
The great lesson of our faith is that there is no resurrection without…

Rome has figured prominently in the history of the Church from its earliest days. Its Jewish community had close ties to Jerusalem, and thus Christianity reached Rome even before Paul came there as a missionary in 49-50. Peter and Paul both met martyrdom in Rome, giving the Christian community there special status. Also, Rome was one of the major cities of the empire; its great concentration of political and economic power proved a significant advantage as the Church grew.
Rome was one of five primary episcopal sees in the early centuries of the Church (along with the other major cities of the empire: Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria). But in time the bishop of Rome, seen as the successor to St.…

St. Damien of Molokai was born Jozsef DeVeuester in Belgium in 1840. As a young man he entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a missionary order, taking the name Damianus at first vows. His brother, also a member of the same congregation, was assigned by their superiors to the mission in Hawaii but became ill and could not make the voyage. Thus Damien took his place and journeyed to Hawaii in 1864. Damien later volunteered to serve in the colony which had been established on the island of Molokai for Hansen’s disease patients. He remained there at his own will and at the request of the residents of the colony, and eventually he contracted the disease himself. Damien died on Molokai in 1889 among…

Out of respect for Jordan’s predominately Muslim culture, in which women keep most of their bodies covered because of exhortations to modesty in the Koran, travel authorities suggest dressing “conservatively” or “modestly.” Note well that Jordanian Muslim standards for what is conservative or modest might be different than what is considered acceptable in the west today. It is best to avoid revealing, provocative or flashy dress. The Jordan Tourism Board offers the following advice:
“Muslim women’s clothing often covers their arms, legs and hair. Western women are not subject to these customs, but very revealing clothing is never appropriate, and conservative dress is advisable for…

Jainism is one of the most ancient religions in the world. Jains follow the teachings of a succession of 24 prophets known as Tirthankaras, the last of whom is Tirthankar Mahavir. Prayers are often addressed to the Tirthankaras.
Jains believe in a multi-layered universe which contains a series of heavens and hells, the greatest of which is the “Supreme Abode” wherein reside the liberated souls. Everyone is bound within the universe by one’s karma — the accumulated evil deeds that one has done. Unlike Buddhism and Hinduism, there is no “good karma” in Jainism. The goal for the individual soul is to attain moksha, liberation from an endless cycle of lives through reincarnation. This can only…

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 either side of the main altar, dedicated to St. Joseph and to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Take a close look at the St. Joseph statue the next time you’re in church and chances are, you’ll notice him holding a wooden stick out of which flowers are blooming. A quick look through the Gospels reveals no reference to any kind of an incident involving St. Joseph and a wooden stick blooming flowers! So where does this image come from? First of all, the story of the wooden stick and the blooming flowers goes like this:…

While the Chinese Constitution guarantees freedom of religious worship, government restrictions hamper some actual religious practices. Officially, only state-recognized religious institutions are allowed to exist, and repression of non-recognized groups – such as the Falun Gong movement – can be severe. Foreigners who congregate in houses of worship specifically for foreigners, on the other hand, are not subject to the same restrictions.
A friend of mine who was a lapsed Catholic actually came back to the Church while he was in China for a volunteer year. So I wouldn’t worry too much! If you’re a practicing Catholic, you should know that political and historical divisions do exist in the Catholic…