Answers & Winners :)

Okay, here are the answers for the Easter greeting languages. And congrats to Nati, who correctly identified 10 of them! Runners up are Larissa and Catherine, who each knew 7. Hope you had fun. :)

1. Cristo ressuscitou! Ressuscitou verdadeiramente!
Portuguese

2. Christus ist auferstanden! Er ist wahrhaftig auferstanden!
German

3. Christus is opgestaan! Hij is waarlijk opgestaan!
Dutch

4. Christus resurrexit! Resurrexit vere!
Latin

5. Christ est ressuscité! Il est vraiment ressuscité!
French

6. Cristo è risorto! È veramente risorto!
Italian

7. Cristo ha resucitado! ¡En verdad ha resucitado!
Spanish

8. Χριστός ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!
Greek

9. Христос воскрес! Воистину воскрес!
Russian

10. Krist uskrsnu! Uistinu uskrsnu!
Croatian

11. Chrystus zmartwychwstał! Prawdziwie zmartwychwstał!
Polish

12. Christos voskresen! Naistino voskresen!
Church Slavonic used by Slovaks

13. Kristus prisikėlė! Tikrai prisikėlė!
Lithuanian

14. Tá Críost éirithe! Go deimhin, tá sé éirithe!
Irish

15. Tha Crìosd air èiridh! Gu dearbh, tha e air èiridh!
Scottish

16. Si Cristo ay nabuhay! Siya nga ay nabuhay!

Filipino

17. Ua ala hou ´o kristo! Ua ala ´i ´o no ´oia!
Hawaiian

18. Krisztus feltámadt! Valóban feltámadt!
Hungarian

19. Kristus er opstanden! Ja, sandelig opstanden!
Danish

20. Ha Masheeha houh quam! Be emet quam!
Hebrew

Sources:
http://www.oca.org/OCpaschalgreetings.asp?SID=2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting

Mini-Interview

A friend recently emailed me some questions on womanhood for a project she's completing, and I thought I'd share my answers here.


How do you feel to be a woman in today's society?
Being a woman in today's society is both a great challenge and a great opportunity. It is a challenge because our society has become a culture of death that does not understand what it means to be a woman. By attempting to eradicate (erase) the beautiful, God-given differences between man and woman, the movement of modern "feminism" fights not for womanhood, but against it. Our current society puts forth a very false image of womanhood, spreading around lots of lies and confusion. All this means that we have a most important call than ever to evangelize through our witness of authentic Christian, Catholic womanhood. As one adage so beautifully says, "The darker the night, the brighter shine the stars!".

What do you value most about being a woman?
I value most my call to bring beauty to the world by reflecting the perfect beauty of God, my creator and Father. And I value the feminine call to motherhood. As Pope John Paul so beautifully explains, we are granted special feminine gifts from God in order to fulfill this call to motherhood -- whether it be spiritual, biological, or both. I am grateful for the feminine capacity to love, to give and nurture life, and to respond to Divine initiation.

Do you have an ideal of what a woman should be like or is there a woman who is a model for you? Who?
When looking for the ideal woman, we of course need look no further than our Mother Mary. I often reflect on how perfectly she reflected the image of God. We are all created in His image, and are called to reflect it by purity and holiness. She did not merely reflect Him, however; she magnified Him! (Magnificat, Luke 1). She shows us what amazing things the Father can accomplish through us if we but surrender our lives and plans to Him. By giving all of herself as a joyful handmaiden, she became the Mother of the Messiah and of all mankind, co-Mediatrix of all graces, and the queen of Heaven and earth. Mother Teresa and St. Gianna Molla are also two big role models for me of beautiful, self-giving womanhood!

What do you think a woman can give to a man?
As women, we are able to give a great deal to man, both individually as a whole. I've learned from personal experience that if I am a real lady, it encourages men rise to the challenge of being real gentlemen. The creation account in Genesis so beautifully shows the Creator's mastery in creating woman as a helpmeet and partner for man. We are equal in dignity, but wonderfully different in design. Both man and woman have a unique call, special gifts, and the ability to complement and build up the other. We women have a "divine assignment": to give man a glimpse of the ultimate beauty and mystery of God through the beauty and mystery of our femininity.

Why Am I Catholic? Part 2: Purgatory, Mortal Sin and Venial Sin

In their article on "The Roots of Purgatory", Catholic Answers makes an excellent point:

All Christians agree that we won’t be sinning in heaven. Sin and final
glorification are utterly incompatible. Therefore, between the sinfulness of
this life and the glories of heaven, we must be made pure. Between death and
glory there is a purification.

The Catholic understanding of Purgatory is explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), paragraphs 1030-31:

"All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned."

The doctrine of Purgatory is connected to the Catholic teaching of two kinds of sin: mortal and venial. All sin is wrong, evil, weakening, and dehabilitating. But few of us would say that a five-year-old sneaking a cookie is equally wrong with an adult stealing a car. The first would be a venial (or "lesser") sin; the second, mortal (or "deadly"). Anyone who is familiar with Latin or Spanish recognizes "morte" — the word for death — at the root of "mortal". This concept of deadly and non-deadly sin comes right from 1 John 5:16-17:

"If anyone sees his brother commit sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death."

St. John says clearly that there is sin that leads to death, and that there is sin that doesn't. But he makes sure to clarify that all wrongdoing is still sin. Just because the five-year-old's disobedience in sneaking the cookie isn't as major as hotwiring and stealing a car doesn't mean it's not wrong. He is still guilty, but with a lesser guilt than the other. Likewise, the punishment is proportional — probably a few minutes in the time-out chair versus a few years in jail.

Mortal, or deadly, sin does just what the name implies: kills the life of God (grace) in one's soul. Catholics believe that for one to die with the guilt of unrepented deadly sin makes it impossible for them to go to Heaven (this is where Confession comes in...but that will be addressed later in the series!). A soul who dies in this state has forfeited Heaven.

Venial sin, because of its lesser severity, does not kill the life of God in a soul, but weakens and undermines it. We all commit venial sins every day. These venial sins "clutter up" our souls with impurity. One who dies with venial (not mortal) sin on their soul is said to be in a state of grace. They are assured of salvation, but are not yet ready to enter Heaven: Revelation 21:27 states that nothing and no one unclean can enter the presence of God in heaven. All traces of venial sin must be purified from a soul before this can happen. This purification is what takes place in Purgatory.

Some imagine that the Catholic Church has an elaborate doctrine of purgatory worked out, but there are only three essential components of the doctrine: (1) that a purification after death exists, (2) that it involves some kind of pain, and (3) that the purification can be assisted by the prayers and offerings by the living to God.

Many early Church Fathers wrote on this subject, for example, St. Augustine in A.D. 392:

"Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice [Job 1:5], why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them" (Homilies on First Corinthians 41:5)

The doctrine of Purgatory is a rich and beautiful one. Not only that, it is a merciful one. I have only begun to offer an explanation here... let me point you to some excellent reading that goes into this deeper!

- Purgatory from CatholicAnswers.com debunks some Purgatory myths and explains why it is not a Catholic "invention" .

- The Roots of Purgatory contains a number of intriguing quotes from the writing of early Church Fathers recognized and appreciated by Catholics and Evangelicals alike.

- Purgatory at OurCatholicFaith.com makes more connections with scripture and Church Fathers.

- Why Mortal and Venial Sins? is a former evangelical's take on the subject.

Why Am I Catholic? Part 1: The Eucharist

Meshaay asked the following in the comment box recently...

Hey, I've been wondering, what do you believe as a Catholic? What makes you different from a Christian, and why did you choose Catholicism over Christianity? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the question, Meshaay! I need to clarify right off (as some friends did kindly in the comment box) that as a Catholic, I am also a Christian. It's not one versus the other. In fact, Catholics are the original Christians and the largest Christian church in the world with over 1 billion members (1/6 the world's population). The Catholic Church is the one which Christ founded nearly 2000 years ago. All other Christian denominations (Protestant, Baptist, Lutheran, etc.) are the results of "splits", or individuals/groups breaking off from the Catholic Church over the past 500 years. And though these splits often occurred because an individual or group contested with Catholic doctrine, all Catholics do share with our evangelical Christian brothers and sisters a common faith in God as Creator and Father and in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

As far as our differences go, the main ones include the Eucharist, Purgatory, devotion to the Blessed Mother and the Saints, the Sacraments (especially Confession), the Holy Father and Magisterium, and Sacred Tradition as a means of passing on truth along with Sacred Scripture.

Rather than make this a very lengthy post to explain all of the above, I'll do a series and cover one topic in each. Today is the first and foremost: The Eucharist.

As Catholics, we take Jesus at His word. In John 6:51-53, He says:

"'I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.'

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, 'How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?'

Jesus said to them, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.

'For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.

'This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.'"

Most Protestants hold that Jesus was speaking symbolically in this passage. However, a look at the original Greek shows otherwise. The Greek word for "body" in John 6:54 is sarx, which means physical flesh, and the word for "eats" (trogon) translates as "gnawing" or "chewing." This is certainly not the language of metaphor. (Reference: The Institution of the Mass from Catholic Answers.)

His clarity is further shown by the fact that when many of His disciples left him due to the radicalism of the above (John 6:66), He let them go. He didn't call them back and say "Wait! I was speaking symbolically. The meaning of the parable is...". No — He let them go.

When He said His flesh would give us life, he meant it — literally. Take a look at how many times He uses the words "life" and "living" in the above passage. He even uses "Amen, Amen" to emphasize His words!

Jesus went on to fulfill His promise of John 6 at the Last Supper, when He took bread and wine and turned them into His body and blood. His words "This is My Body" and "This is My Blood" are recorded in three of the Gospel narratives. (Matthew 26:26-27, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20). He commands His Apostles, and us, to "Do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19).

If I had to name the single most important reason I am Catholic, it is this. The Catholic Church brings me the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of my Lord and God so that I might receive Him physically! If one is receptive, this can be a life-changing experience each and every time it occurs (see Secrets of the Eucharist). I have been blessed to attend Mass and receive Him every day since my First Holy Communion 14 years ago (only missing a few). He is my strength and my sustenance of life, just as He promised in John 6. Not only that, but because He remains fully present in the Eucharist He waits day and night in our churches for His children to come and be with Him. Adoration, or worship of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament (the Eucharist), is, after receiving Him physically, one of the most powerful experiences of grace possible.

For more thorough and excellent explanations on the Eucharist, check out:

- Christ in the Eucharist from CatholicAnswers.com
- The Eucharist in Scripture
- The Real Presence from CatholicAnswers.com
- The Eucharist Article Index: Q & A and more from EWTN.com

I would like to welcome any non-Catholic readers I may have and encourage you to explore this topic. I hope that this series may be helpful to your understanding of why Catholics believe what we do. Charitable discussion in the comment box is encouraged!