Posts by Deacon Kurt Godfryd (Page 4)

On Wednesday, July 31, 1957, meteorological records indicate that Detroit’s weather was hot and sunny. With temperatures reaching 86 degrees and winds blowing out of the north at 7 miles per hour, it was about what you would expect for an ordinary summer day. Now if it were possible to transport ourselves to that day in history, I imagine that the morning newspaper would contain the results from Tuesday’s Tigers game and the latest news regarding the town’s movers and…

In his book, Jesus Shock, Professor Peter Kreeft declared: “Protestants believe that the sacraments are like ladders that God gave to us by which we can climb up to Him. Catholics believe that they are like ladders that God gave to Himself by which He climbs down to us.” As “outward signs instituted by Christ to give grace,” the sacraments may be categorized as follows: Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist); Healing (Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick); and Commitment (Holy Orders and Marriage). Additionally, each has two unique characteristics: a specific…

Life is to live and life is to give and talents are to use for good if you choose. Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be strong. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks, then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life, which has come to you by the…

On a summer day in the year 2000, Jack Sullivan was told by his surgeon that based on scans of his spine, surgery would be necessary to repair it. Later that day, dejected and suffering from intense pain, he tuned into a television program on the life of Cardinal John Henry Newman. Years later, he recalled that at the time, I knew something about Newman- not much, but that he was a convert, a brilliant man, who preached and wrote about the…

For a moment, imagine that someone set before you a 5-Carot diamond ring and a 5-gallon jug of water and informed you that, for no cost, either could be yours. Which would you choose?  But wait. Before you make your selection, know that such a diamond ring would cost about $145,000 whereas the 5-gallon jug of water would run you $23.57. Further, your online search of both objects reveals that the prestigious online jeweler, Deacon’s Diamonds, has advertised that “you…

As human persons, God (potentially) gives us five senses: …to See, to Hear, to Touch, to Smell, and to Taste. Given these gifts, we note that we are different than the angels. Unlike our heavenly helpers, who are purely spiritual beings, we humans have been created with both spirit (soul) and matter (body). According to the Baltimore Catechism, “a sacrament is an outward sign, instituted by Christ, to bring grace.” In each of the 7 Sacraments, God (through His Church) uses physical…

I’ve long been a spectator of hockey and football. With hockey, the ability to drive a puck past a goaltender into a 6-foot-wide net defines victory; it makes the difference between winning and losing. With football, while touchdowns are preferable, three points may be garnered by skillfully kicking a piece of inflated cowhide leather through goalposts measuring 18-feet, 6-inches wide. A cursory scan of both NFL and NCAA history books shows that many games have been won or lost by the skill of a kicker. Now…

In an episode of the television show, Everybody Loves Raymond, Debra asks Raymond why he doesn’t go to church. His response: “I don’t know. Maybe it is because of the kneeling. You know I have bad knees.” Eventually, however, Raymond turns the tables on his wife and asks her why she goes to church. Her response: “I go to church to thank God for you and the kids…I go to get re-energized…I go to be part of something greater than me…I…

During the first four centuries of the Church, many heresies developed regarding Jesus Christ. Finally, at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D., the bishops, united with the Pope, clarified the matter: “We teach…one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, known in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation.” Just twenty years prior, at the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D., there came clarification regarding Our Lady. She was the Theotokos, the God-bearer and Mother of God! In the…