Miraculous Spiral Staircase (St. Joseph, Loretto Chapel, Santa Fe, New Mexico) – Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World

A group of nuns in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the late 1800s needed a special staircase built for their chapel, so they prayed a novena and a mysterious workman came and built it. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli discuss what makes the spiral staircase special, who built it, and whether it could have been St. Joseph himself.

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This Episode is Brought to You By:
Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World is brought to you in part through the generous support of Aaron Vurgason Electric and Automation at AaronV.com. Making Connections for Life for your automation and smart home needs in north and central Florida.

Catechism Class, a dynamic weekly podcast journey through the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Greg and Jennifer Willits. It’s the best book club, coffee talk, and faith study group, all rolled into one. Find it in any podcast directory.

Fiorvento Law, PLLC, specializing in adult guardianships and conservatorships, probate and estate planning matters. Accepting clients throughout Michigan. Taking into account your individual, healthcare, financial and religious needs. Visit FiorventoLaw.com

Deliver Contacts, offering honest pricing and reliable service for all your contact lens needs. See the difference at delivercontacts.com.

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How Was Jesus Born?

A reader writes:

I have been a sponsor for RCIA catechumens and candidates. Mary is a frequent topic of discussion with questions about immaculate conception, perpetual virginity and how do we know Jesus was not born vaginally.

Do you have any resources we might share with them, please?

Thank you for writing.

It is not Church teaching that Jesus was not born vaginally. What the Church teaches is that Mary remained a virgin before, during, and after Christ’s birth. However, it does not have a teaching on specifically how Christ’s birth happened. This is left for theologians to speculate about.

(See Cardinal Avery Dulles’s remarks here.)

A common speculation is that Jesus came out of Mary’s womb miraculously and non-vaginally.

This speculation is found very early in Christian literature.

For example, the second century document known as the Infancy Gospel of James (aka the Protoevangelium of James) indicates a miraculous, non-vaginal birth, whereby there is a great light and Jesus suddenly appears outside of Mary’s womb and a later inspection confirms that she is still physically a virgin according to a common understanding of the time (see sections 19 and 20).

Even earlier than that, the first century document known as the Ascension of Isaiah–which likely was written in A.D. 67–similarly indicates a miraculous, non-vaginal birth where Jesus suddenly appears outside Mary’s womb (see 11:7-9).

We thus have very early Christian testimony to Jesus having a miraculous, non-vaginal birth, but this is still not Church teaching.

I hope this helps, and God bless you!

13th Doctor Retrospective – The Secrets of Doctor Who

At the end of the 13th Doctor era, Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha assess the Doctor, the Companions, the stories, and showrunner Chris Chibnall and then look forward to what’s next.

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Misusing the Sign of Jonah

A reader writes:

The muslim Ahmed Deedat once wanted to prove that Jesus did not die on the cross. For this he used the sign of Jonah in Matthew 12:40 making the connection: Jonah alive in the fish = Jesus alive in the tomb. Hence these questions on which I would like to have your opinion.

1. If Jesus died in the tomb, did Jonah therefore die in the belly of the fish and then rise again (Jonah chapter 2)?

2. If Jonah didn’t die in the fish, would that also mean Jesus wasn’t in the tomb either?

Regarding your questions:

1) Jesus did not die in the tomb. He died on the Cross, and afterward his body was put in the tomb.

Jonah did not die in the fish. He lived through the entire experience.

2) No. Just because Jonah didn’t die in the fish does not mean that Jesus was not in the tomb. He was in it.

If your account is accurate, what Mr. Deedat is doing is making two mistakes.

 

Pressing Analogies Beyond Their Limits

First, he is pressing an analogy beyond its limits. In an analogy, there are two things that are similar in some way. The similarity is the basis of the analogy/comparison.

But there also are differences between the two things, which are also essential for the analogy. If there were no differences, one would be comparing a thing to itself, which would make no sense.

Thus, in the comparison between Jonah and Jesus, both go into something for “three days.” That is the similarity.

But then the differences start: Jonah is named Jonah, while Jesus is named Jesus. Jonah went into a fish, while Jesus went into a tomb. Jonah went to Nineveh, while Jesus didn’t. Jonah lived centuries before Christ, while Jesus lived centuries after Jonah. Et cetera.

What Mr. Deedat is doing is failing to appreciate that not every element of an analogy is the same, and he is pressing the analogy beyond its limits.

Specifically, he is insisting that the life-status of the two figures must be the same, but this is one of the differences between the two things being compared: Jonah was alive, while Jesus was dead.

 

Failing to Identify the Point of Analogy

Second, Mr. Deedat would be failing to notice that the life-status of the two figures is not part of the sign of being “in” something for “three days.”

Jonah was alive when he went into the fish, while Jesus was already dead when he went into the tomb.

Therefore, Jesus being dead tells us nothing about Jonah’s status and whether he was alive. Nor does Jonah’s status of being alive tell us anything about Jesus’ life-status.

The point of the comparison is that they were both in something for “three days.” That is the comparison. Whether they were alive or dead while they were in this thing is simply not part of the comparison.

I hope this helps, and God bless you!

The Weekly Francis – 8 November 2022

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week, from 2 November 2022 to 8 November 2022.

Homilies

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “Tomorrow I leave for an Apostolic Journey to the Kingdom of Bahrain, a Journey under the banner of dialogue. I will participate in a Forum focusing on the inescapable need for the East and West to come closer together for the good of human coexistence.” @Pontifex, 2 November 2022
  • “Today, the Lord reminds us that death comes to make truth of life. The Gospel explains how to live out the wait: we go to meet God by loving, because He is love.” @Pontifex, 2 November 2022
  • “On the day of our farewell, it will be a delightful surprise, if we now allow ourselves to be surprised by the presence of God, waiting for us among the world’s poor and wounded.” @Pontifex, 2 November 2022
  • “May we never allow opportunities for encounter between civilizations, religions and cultures to evaporate. Let us never permit the roots of our humanity to dry up! Let us work together! Let us work for togetherness, for hope! #ApostolicJourney #Bahrain” @Pontifex, 3 November 2022
  • “These days in the Kingdom of #Bahrain mark a precious stage in the journey of friendship that has intensified in recent years with various Islamic religious leaders: a fraternal journey that, beneath the gaze of Heaven, seeks to foster peace on earth. #ApostolicJourney” @Pontifex, 3 November 2022
  • “The Kingdom of #Bahrain Declaration teaches that ”whenever hatred, violence and discord are preached, God’s name is desecrated“. The one who is religious strongly rejects the blasphemy of war and the use of violence. #ApostolicJourney” @Pontifex, 4 November 2022
  • “The religious person, the person of peace, is opposed to the race to rearmament, to the business of war, to the market of death. They do not support “alliances against some”, but paths of encounter with all, pursuing the path of fraternity, dialogue, peace. #ApostolicJourney” @Pontifex, 4 November 2022
  • “In the garden of humanity, we are playing with fire, missiles and bombs, with weapons that bring sorrow and death, covering our common home with ashes and hatred. I extend my heartfelt appeal to everyone that the war in #Ukraine be ended and that serious #peace negotiations begin” @Pontifex, 4 November 2022
  • “God is the Source of peace and never brings about war, hatred, or violence. We, who believe in Him, are called to promote peace through encounter, patient negotiations and dialogue, which is the oxygen of peaceful coexistence. #ApostolicJourney” @Pontifex, 4 November 2022
  • “Our instruments are prayer and fraternity. These are our modest but effective weapons. We must not let ourselves be tempted by shortcuts unworthy of the Most High, whose name of Peace is dishonoured by those who nurture violence, war and the arms trade.” @Pontifex, 4 November 2022
  • “We cannot witness to the God of love unless we Christians are united among ourselves as He desires. And we cannot be united without being open to witness in the name of the Spirit who wants to reach everyone. #ApostolicJourney #UnityOfChristians” @Pontifex, 4 November 2022
  • “The Creator invites us to act on behalf of all his creatures who do not yet find a sufficient place on the agenda of the powerful: the poor, the unborn, the elderly, the infirm, migrants… If we who believe in the God of mercy do not listen to the poor, who will?#ApostolicJourney” @Pontifex, 4 November 2022
  • “Christian martyrs of various confessions – how many there have been in these recent years! – form a single starry sky, guiding our way as we journey through the deserts of history. We have the same goal: all of us are called to the fullness of communion in God.” @Pontifex, 4 November 2022
  • “The culture of care is the antidote to a world rife with individualism and imprisoned by sadness. Let us learn to take care of others, of our cities, of our society, of creation so as to experience the joy of friendship and generosity.” @Pontifex, 5 November 2022
  • “You young people are the leaven in the dough of the world, destined to rise, to break down many social and cultural barriers and to foster the blossoming of fraternity and innovation, becoming the basis of a friendly and solidary society. #ApostolicJourney” @Pontifex, 5 November 2022
  • “Be champions of fraternity, sowers of fraternity. Thus you will be builders of the future, because only in fraternity will our world have a future!” @Pontifex, 5 November 2022
  • “Before going to the internet for advice, always seek out good counselors in life, wise and reliable people who can guide and help you. Each of us needs to be accompanied on the road of life!” @Pontifex, 5 November 2022
  • “To love like Jesus is above all a grace to be implored insistently: “Jesus, you who love me, teach me to love like you. Jesus, you who forgive me, teach me to forgive like you. Send your Spirit, the Spirit of love, upon me.” Homily” @Pontifex, 5 November 2022
  • “Behold Christ’s power: love. The greatness of his power does not derive from the force of violence, but from the weakness of love. He gives us the strength to love like he loved: unconditionally, always, everyone, even our enemies. #ApostolicJourney” @Pontifex, 5 November 2022
  • “That is what the Lord asks of us: to commit ourselves to practice universal fraternity, to persevere in good even when evil is done to us, to break the spiral of revenge by disarming violence and demilitarizing the heart. #ApostolicJourney” @Pontifex, 5 November 2022
  • “The Spirit is a wellspring of joy. The fresh water the Lord wants to make flow in the deserts of our humanity is the certainty that even despite the struggles and dark nights we sometimes endure, we are not alone, lost or defeated, because He is with us.” @Pontifex, 6 November 2022
  • “Christian joy is contagious because the Gospel makes us go beyond ourselves to share the beauty of God’s love. We cannot keep Christian joy to ourselves. It multiplies once we start spreading it.” @Pontifex, 6 November 2022
  • “The Holy Spirit is a wellspring of unity. His fire burns away worldly desires and kindles in our lives the warm and compassionate love with which Jesus loves us, so that we in turn can love one another like that.” @Pontifex, 6 November 2022
  • “If we have received the Spirit, our ecclesial vocation is above all to preserve unity and cultivate it together. To be credible in our dialogue with others, let us live in fraternity among ourselves.” @Pontifex, 6 November 2022
  • “The Spirit is a wellspring of prophecy. We cannot pretend not to see the works of evil, so as to live a “quiet life” and not get our hands dirty. We have received a Spirit of prophecy to bear the light by proclaiming the Gospel by our living witness. #ApostolicJourney” @Pontifex, 6 November 2022
  • “La profecía nos hace capaces de practicar las Bienaventuranzas evangélicas en las situaciones de cada día, es decir, de edificar con firme mansedumbre ese Reino de Dios en el que el amor, la justicia y la paz se oponen a toda forma de egoísmo, de violencia y de degradación.” @Pontifex, 6 November 2022
  • “Prophecy makes us capable of putting the Beatitudes into practice in everyday situations, meekly, yet resolutely, building God’s kingdom in which love, justice and peace are opposed to every form of selfishness, violence and degradation.” @Pontifex, 6 November 2022
  • “Thank you for these days passed together. With a heart filled with gratitude I bless all of you, especially those who worked to prepare for this journey. I thank His Majesty the King, and the Authorities of #Bahrain for their exquisite hospitality. #ApostolicJourney” @Pontifex, 6 November 2022
  • “The signing of the agreement regarding the situation in #Ethiopia is a source of hope. Let us support this commitment for a lasting #peace. And let us continue to pray for war-torn #Ukraine. May that war might come to an end.” @Pontifex, 6 November 2022
  • “Let us read the lives of the saints which narrate in a comprehensible way the style God uses in the lives of people not that different from us since the saints were made of flesh and blood like us. Their deeds dialogue with our own actions, and help us understand what they mean.” @Pontifex, 7 November 2022
  • “#Holiness is not a process of struggles and renunciations. It is above all the experience of being loved by God, of freely receiving his love, his mercy.” @Pontifex, 8 November 2022

Papal Instagram

Let Sleeping Borg Lie (PRO) – The Secrets of Star Trek

Resistance is NOT futile. Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha discuss the latest episode of Prodigy, in which the crew encounters a Borg cube and hope it offers a solution to their problem without making a worse, new one.

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Lonnie Zamora UFO Incident (Socorro, New Mexico; Aliens?) – Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World

In 1964, when Officer Lonnie Zamora heard an explosion outside Soccoro, NM, what he found was an egg-shaped craft that took off into the sky. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli explore what the police officer saw that day and why this is one of the most intriguing UFO cases of the 1960s.

Help us continue to offer Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World. Won’t you make a pledge at SQPN.com/give today?

Links for this episode:

This Episode is Brought to You By:
Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World is brought to you in part through the generous support of Aaron Vurgason Electric and Automation at AaronV.com. Making Connections for Life for your automation and smart home needs in north and central Florida.

Catechism Class, a dynamic weekly podcast journey through the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Greg and Jennifer Willits. It’s the best book club, coffee talk, and faith study group, all rolled into one. Find it in any podcast directory.

Fiorvento Law, PLLC, specializing in adult guardianships and conservatorships, probate and estate planning matters. Accepting clients throughout Michigan. Taking into account your individual, healthcare, financial and religious needs. Visit FiorventoLaw.com

Deliver Contacts, offering honest pricing and reliable service for all your contact lens needs. See the difference at delivercontacts.com.

Want to Sponsor A Show?
Support StarQuest’s mission to explore the intersection of faith and pop culture by becoming a named sponsor of the show of your choice on the StarQuest network. Click to get started or find out more.

Direct Link to the Episode.

Subscribe on iTunes. | Other Ways to Subscribe.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Weekly Francis – 1 November 2022

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week, from 22 October 2022 to 1 November 2022.

Angelus

General Audiences

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “We must not fear moments of sadness and desolation, but be confident and sure that the Lord never abandons us, and with Him close by, we can overcome every temptation. #GeneralAudience” @Pontifex, 26 October 2022
  • “I deplore the asault in Maboya, in the Democratic Republic of the #Congo, where defenceless people, including a religious sister engaged in healthcare, were killed. Let’s #PrayTogether for the victims and inhabitants of that region, exhausted by violence.” @Pontifex, 26 October 2022
  • “#Women must be entrusted with greater positions and responsibilities. Many calamitous decisions might have been avoided, had woman been directly involved in decision-making! We are committed to ensuring women are increasingly respected, acknowledged and involved! @iamcaritas” @Pontifex, 27 October 2022
  • ““Not that we loved God but that he loved us” (1 Jn 4:10). Let us never forget this. Our abilities and our merits are not central to faith, but rather the unconditional, free and unmerited love of God.” @Pontifex, 28 October 2022
  • “Acceptance is the interior disposition essential for evangelization: to sow the good news in the soil of the lives of others, learning to recognize and appreciate the seeds that God already planted in their hearts before we came on the scene. #MissionaryOctober” @Pontifex, 29 October 2022
  • “And let us pray to the Risen Lord also for those – especially the young – who died in #Seoul last night as a tragic consequence of a sudden crowd surge.” @Pontifex, 30 October 2022
  • “The meeting of eyes between Zacchaeus and Jesus in #TodaysGospel (Lk 19:1–10) seems to encapsulate the whole of salvation history: humanity, with its miseries, seeks redemption, but firstly God, with mercy, seeks his creature to save it. #Angelus” @Pontifex, 30 October 2022
  • “This is the history of salvation: God has never looked down on us to humiliate and judge us; on the contrary, he lowered himself to the point of washing our feet, looking at us from below and restoring our dignity. #TodaysGospel (Lk 19 :1–10) #Angelus” @Pontifex, 30 October 2022
  • “Let us pray for the victims of the terrorist attack in #Mogadishu, which killed more than a hundred people, including many children. May God convert the hearts of the violent!” @Pontifex, 30 October 2022
  • “Please, let us not forget martyred Ukraine in our prayers and in our heartache. Let’s #PrayTogether for #peace, and never tire of doing so!” @Pontifex, 30 October 2022
  • “Let us #PrayTogether for children who are suffering – especially for those who are homeless, orphans, and victims of war – may they be guaranteed access to education and may they have the opportunity to experience family affection. #PrayerIntention #ClickToPray HQ Video” @Pontifex, 31 October 2022
  • “The life of Jesus and the saints tell us that the seed of peace, in order to grow and bear fruit, must first die. Peace is not achieved by conquering or defeating someone, it is never violent, it is never armed.” @Pontifex, 1 November 2022

Papal Instagram

Asylum (PRO) – The Secrets of Star Trek

Prodigy is back! Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli discuss the return of Prodigy and the crew of the Protostar, including the emphasis on action and the return of biological Janeway in addition to her holographic counterpart.

Prodigy is back! Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli discuss the the return of Prodigy and the crew of the Protostar, including the emphasis on action and the return of biological Janeway in addition to her holographic counterpart.

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The Stars At Night (LD) – The Secrets of Star Trek

California vs. Texas! Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli discuss the season finale of Lower Decks, season 3; its slightly more serious tone, the state rivalry mined for comedic effect, and the maturation of some of the characters.

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