I enjoy writing book
reviews of books that I have read and then posting them on my website. However, I didn’t feel comfortable writing a
book review for this book since I am one of the contributors to it. I did read the book and really enjoyed it and
would recommend it to my readers. For
the review, I turned to my friend, Steven R. McEvoy and obtained his permission
to post the review that he had written and originally appeared on his
website: www.bookreviewsandmore.ca . Steven
does a great job of reviewing books and you should check out his website. Here is his review of Epic Saints.
Epic Saints Wild, Wonderful, and Weird Stories of God’s Heroes
I love books like this one. I love reading about saints and
am currently reading books from 4 different series about saints. But what a
book like this does is introduce me to a few new saints, it gives me some more
information and examples from saints that I am more familiar with. This was an
EPIC READ that I could hardly put down. It is mostly eBook about specific
saints and But there is also a lot of great information about the process of
saint making, and the canon and calendar of saints. But the volume is not just
the work of Shaun McAfee there are several contributors. Those contributors
are:
Alex R. Hey
Sarah Spittler
Jessica Mcafee
Theresa Zoe Williams
Brooke Gregory
Deacon Marty Mcindoe
Shaun Mcafee
Laura Hensley
Mike Panlilio
Maggie Van Sciver
The essays interspersed through the biographies are:
Have Saints Always Been Canonized The Same Way?
What Is The General Roman Calendar?
Can These Stories Be Allegorical?
Are We Really Expected To Believe These Stories?
Why Are Some Saints Not On The Calendar?
What Is The Process For Canonization?
What Should We Do With Saint Narratives That Contain Errors Or Inconsistencies?
Why Are Some Canonized Quickly While Others Have Been In The Process For
Centuries?
Can I Become A Saint?
And on top of that are profiles of 74 saints. Shaun and the other contributors
do an amazing job or highlighting so many saints in such a short space. There
are almost a dozen saints I need to go find further readings on. And my son is
already looking forward to my rereading this book with him.
In this volume there are a few tales about dragons. Saints pulling practical
jokes and pranks. A bilocating death and many, many more stories of saints, of
Martyrs and holy men and women.
Though I will be honest with you, the pieces in this volume are so well written
you might have a hard time picking a favorite. And you will
definitely want to read more on at least some of the saints. An excellent read
that I highly recommend.
Love Is All About Giving – by Deacon Marty McIndoe
During this time around Valentine’s Day most of us are
concentrating on finding just the right gift for the one that we love. I certainly realize that giving to the one we
love is something that should be done constantly in our relationship with
them. But Valentine’s Day sets aside a
special day for us to do that. If we truly love someone, we want to give to
them at Valentine’s Day and throughout the year. It seems naturally built in to us as humans to
want to give. I think that is because we
are made in the image of God, who is the great giver.
We all know John 3:16 which says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” This is the gift above all gifts. It is also the gift that keeps on giving, as the commercials say. I would like to take a look at this precious gift. To begin with, our very life is a gift given to us by God. It is a precious gift that should be held sacred. Secondly, the scriptures tell us that God formed us in His own image. This too is a precious gift. We, like God, are made to live throughout all eternity. We, like God, are also given the gift of free will. This is also a very precious gift, but one that has gotten us in to trouble. Unlike God we sometimes choose to be selfish and not loving and not giving. In order to remedy this, God decided that He would come to us and bring us the gift of salvation. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He did this for a specific purpose, for our salvation and for our formation.
I have always been interested in Social Anthropology, where
we study the behavior of cultures, both ancient and sometimes
contemporary. I have found it extremely
interesting that almost every culture recognizes that there is a God (or
several gods) and finds it necessary to offer sacrifices to this God. This too seems to be built in to our human
DNA. We have a need to worship God and to
offer sacrifice to God. Jesus came to
the Jewish people who were accustomed to sacrifices and offerings to their
God. Jesus became for us the fullest
sacrifice for our sins. Jesus died a
horrific death so that our sins could be expiated and we could obtain eternal
life. His was the perfect sacrificial
offering. However, that is not the only
reason he came. If it was, he could have
been slaughtered by Herod as an infant, or one of the many times in the Gospels
where the people tried to kill him. Each
time He escaped because His time had not yet come. He had more to do.
I believe that one of the primary things that He wanted to
do was to start His Church. He wanted to
find and train the right men to do the job.
When He chose the twelve apostles He was making new the Jewish Kingdom
of the twelve tribes and starting the new Kingdom, the Church. He chose Peter as the “Rock” upon which He
would build this Church. All twelve
disciples were important, even the one who betrayed Him, but Peter was to be
the Head of them all and the Head of the Church. The scriptures are very clear about
that. Jesus spent three years in
ministry with them to train them and show them what would be called the seven
sacraments. When the time of their
training was completed, Jesus turned towards the means of His death. He wanted His death to be a renewal of the
Jewish Passover so He went to Jerusalem at the time of Passover. He walked right in to the hands of those who wanted
to kill him. He would become the new
Passover.
The death of Jesus on the cross is so much a part of the
Jewish Passover Feast that we cannot separate the two. Dr. Scott Hahn’s book, The Fourth Cup is one
of the best references for us to study this.
In this book he shows us how our redemption followed a plan established
by God from the very beginning of time.
When Jesus celebrated the final Passover (which we call the last supper)
with His disciples it really wasn’t completed until His death on the cross. During that Last Supper Jesus gave us an
extraordinary gift, the gift of His own Body and Blood and Jesus instructed the
disciples to continue to give this gift.
The Church that Jesus formed was to continue to celebrate His sacrifice
and continue to give out His body and His blood to His people. It has been doing that for 2,000 years.
After Jesus died and ascended back to heaven, He gave another
gift to us all. He gave us the gift of
the Holy Spirit. This gift of the Holy
Spirit was given to strengthen us and to continue to help us in all that God
calls us to do. The gift of the Spirit
has been lavished upon us. Though the
Sacrament of Baptism, the gift of the Spirit is placed within us. In the Sacrament of Confirmation the fullness
of the Spirit and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are made manifest. Through the gift of the Sacrament of the Holy
Eucharist we are given the very body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. We are empowered by Him and called to be
formed in His image. In the gift of the
Sacrament of Marriage and the Sacrament of Holy Orders we are again empowered
in to the Vocation that God calls us to.
When we are sick, the gift of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick
brings us healing. And when we turn away
from God and turn to sin, the Sacrament of Reconciliation forgives us and brings
us back to Him
All of the gifts that God gives us continue through the
precious gift of the Church. The Church
gave us the gift of the Bible and helps us to understand it. The Church gives us the gift of Tradition which
was (and still is) so venerated in Jewish life.
Tradition helps fill in what the Bible hasn’t given us. It helps us to understand where we have come
from and helps us to see that we are still the same Church founded by the
Apostles with Peter as the head. The
Church gives us the gift of its hierarchy, which continues (literally) what
Jesus has taught us. The present day
Pope is the 266th man who has sat on the chair of St. Peter. All of our bishops are spiritual descendents of
the twelve disciples. We can trace the
lineage of ordination right back to the early Church. As.000
great as the Church is, we are all still human
with human weaknesses. We have had some “bad”
Popes and Bishops, yet the Church continues on.
No other institution on earth has remained for 2000 years. Jesus was right when He said that the gates
of hell will not prevail against it.
In summary, God is the great giver of gifts that keep on giving. Our salvation is a precious gift that we celebrate every time we celebrate mass. Jesus, body, blood, soul and divinity is always present to us in the Eucharist. The Church is always present to us as Jesus’ own body here on earth. The Church is always giving us the gifts of the Sacraments and of God’s grace. The Church is always proclaiming the scriptures and teaching us how to live them out. There is no doubt that God has given us every good gift, and they keep on giving.
I’M CATHOLIC. NOW
WHAT? By Shaun McAfee – a book review
by Deacon Marty McIndoe
Shaun McAfee, founder of EpicPew.com, blogger at National
Catholic Register, contributor to Catholic Answers Magazine and many other
Catholic resources has written a new book published by Our Sunday Visitor. Personally I think that this is the best book
he has written; and I really enjoyed his other books. When I first saw the pre-publication
announcement for this book, I immediately put in an order for it. The title and description led me to believe
that this book would be a great resource for my parish RCIA program. I have been involved in the RCIA (Rite of
Christian Initiation of Adults) program for many years and know that those who
have gone through it need a really good resource book to continue their journey
after the time in the program has finished.
After reading this book I not only realized that the book is perfect for
that, but that the book is perfect for all Catholics on their journey of living
out the beauty of the Catholic faith.
The author of this book is a convert and has gone through
the RCIA process to become a Catholic.
How I wish that all of the people who go through RCIA become as good a
Catholic as Shaun and his wife have become.
Shaun’s overall knowledge of the Catholic faith and Catholic Theology (he
has a graduate degree from Holy Apostles College) is amazing. The way he lives out that faith with his wife
and family is even more amazing. Faith
is made to be put in to action and Shaun certainly does that. I have followed Shaun and his family on
Facebook for almost six years and although I have never met him in person, I
see the faith filled life that he leads.
That faith filled life pours over in to this book. Shaun tells us all the things we need to know
to be a good Catholic and he gives us personal examples of how to be a good
Catholic.
This 335 page book consists of 100 chapters that give us a
lot of information on the Catholic Church and why we do the things that we
do. I find it very refreshing that he
takes the times to not only tell us the things that we should be doing to be a
good Catholic, but also tells us why we do those things. He often refers to the Holy Scriptures as
well as the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
He also uses stories from the early church Fathers and the Saints to
explain. Besides that, he gives us plenty of personal examples
from his own life. He covers just about
everything that you can think of that speaks of Catholicism. He not only covers different topics but also
gives us things to do. For example, not
only do we learn about Baptism, but he also gives us ideas on how to celebrate
our Baptism day. He talks to us about
the priesthood and then encourages us to invite a priest over for dinner.
Shaun’s section on BEING A MODERN CATHOLIC has so much
richness to it when discussing evil, relativism (a must read), marriage,
sexuality, abortion, euthanasia, immigration, gossiping, giving, and
consumerism. His discussion of the
current sex abuse scandal and cover up is enlightening. He deals with all of the current issues in
the Church today. His way of facing
these issues clearly shows the HOPE that we as Catholics are called to
have. Shaun ends his book with a section
on EVANGELIZATION: IT’S FOR EVERYONE. The
chapters in this section remind us of our calling as Catholics to share the
Good News that we have received. He
explains the “New Evangelization” and encourages us to reach out to those
around us, especially to our children.
I highly recommend that ALL Catholics read this book. The book covers serious subjects but is very
easy to read. It is informative as well
as interesting. It is a wealth of
information on the Catholic faith. This
book is not only for those who have just recently come in to the Church,
although it is great for them, but it is for all of us on our journey towards
Jesus in His Church. We can all benefit
from the explanations and the suggestions that Shaun makes in this book. As I write this, we are approaching the
LENTEN season. I highly suggest that
every Catholic get this book and read it and study it and live it out for
Lent. It might be the best thing that
you ever did for Lent.
August 4th is the Memorial day of St. John Vianney the Cure of Ars. He was a great priest who serves as the patron Saint of all priest. In view of that, I would like to share an article from my friend Apologist Luke Haskell about the priesthood. Check it out below – Deacon Marty McIndoe
If there is a New Testament priesthood established by God, then this is one of the most important aspects of faith in our world. It would mean that there is a sacrifice that is needed for the world. This affects every human who has ever lived and all who will live in the future. The main purpose for a priest is to offer sacrifice. This may sound archaic but we must consider the fact that God does not change. If people come to the awareness that God established a New Testament priesthood, then this should have a profound effect on their faith.
As far back as you go, even to the beginning of Christianity, there is a priesthood and the Holy Mass. The early Christians were adamant about keeping a true understanding of faith. If the priesthood were a later invention, then you would see the pages of history scream out over the heresy. The Arian heresy that almost destroyed the church would have paled in comparison. The pages of history are silent because from the beginning, there was a priesthood and a Holy Mass as there still is today, 2000 years later. That in itself is a sustained miracle. “To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations.” (Eph 3:21)
It is an interesting fact that the reformer Tyndale’s translation of the Bible was condemned in England and it was burned by other Protestants. Thomas More charged Tyndale with falsely translating scripture in order to remove references to the priestly office. He was calling Tyndale out as a heretic for doing so. In Tyndale’s Bible, the word priest became senior and was changed to elder in his revised 1534 edition. The word “church” became congregation. The word “penance” became repent and the word “charity” became love. Words are powerful. Changes in words have a huge impact over time. This is the main reason why the church outlawed many protestant Bibles. There appears to have been an active process to manipulate history in order to remove the image of the priesthood God established.
The New Testament priesthood developed out of the bishopric during apostolic times. When it comes to the structure of the church, everything was not put in place as soon as Pentecost. The church had to grow in knowledge of itself and of its purpose; a mustard seed that would grow into the biggest tree. The apostles at different times, were Bishop, Deacon, and Priest. “For it is written in the book of Psalms: Let their habitation become desolate, and let there be none to dwell therein. And his bishopric let another take.” (Acts 1:20)
“Diakonos” means “servant” or “minister”. “Who also hath made us fit ministers of the new testament.” (2 Corinthians 3:6) In the beginning, these terms were fluid. The New Testament was the Holy Mass for 360 years before it was a book. The apostles were ministers of the sacraments and the Holy Mass. Paul tells us, “Let a man so account of us as of ministers of Christ, and dispensers of the mysteries of God.” (1 Cor 4:1) From the word mystery we get the word mysterion, sacramentum, sacrament. Paul being a priest is a minister of the sacraments of God.
Paul tells us, ‘For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also.” (Hb 7:12) There was both a change in priesthood that occurred in the New Covenant between God and man, and there was a change in law.
The New Testament, scripture contains both an image of a universal priesthood and the priesthood of the ordained. The universal priesthood consists of all who enter the church through a Trinitarian baptism. This is understood as the mystical body. The mystical body of Christ as a royal priesthood, is shown in scripture to be called in the Greek text, hiereus. Christ is the head of the body. “And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he may hold the primacy:” (Colossians 1:18) Those who have past on in a state of grace have not left the mystical body, but celebrate the Holy Mass with the hosts of heaven on the other side of the veil.
From Strong’s Greek concordance we define hiereús (from word 2413 /hierós, “sacred because belonging to the Temple”) – a priest. Word 2409 /hiereús(“priest”) is used in the NT: Christ is the true Temple. Those belonging to the Temple are sacred. The New Covenant sees the hiereus sacred, and belonging to the Temple.
“Priest is defined as Old English preost probably shortened from the older Germanic form represented by Old Saxon and Old High German prestar, Old Frisian prestere, all from Vulgar Latin *prester “priest,” from Late Latin presbyter “presbyter, elder,” from Greek presbyteros (see Presbyterian). An alternative theory (to account for the -eo- of the Old English word) makes it cognate with Old High German priast, prest, from Vulgar Latin *prevost “one put over others,” from Latin praepositus “person placed in charge,” from past participle of praeponere (see provost). In Old Testament sense, a translation of Hebrew kohen, Greek hiereus, Latin sacerdos.”
Hiereus is priest, presbyter is priest. The English word priest is different from hiereus. It is not derived phonetically nor etymologically from the word hiereus. It is derived from “Presbyteros”. From the beginning the elders, or presbyters in the church structure, were the respected and ordained leaders within the royal hiereus, or, within the body priest. The apostles assigned the leaders of the church to the presbytery. They were the ordained through the process of laying on of the hands of the bishop, starting with those who received the spirit in the upper room at Pentecost. This is the process of apostolic succession. This image fulfilled what the priesthood of Aaron and Moses did before. “Impose not hands lightly upon any man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins. Keep thyself chaste.” (1Timothy 5:22) “Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD instructed through Moses.” (Numbers 27:23) There is no true atonement for sins in the sacrificing of bulls and goats in the Old Testament. The images are to show us the mystery of sacrament and how the priesthood of Christ is fulfilled in the New Testament. The types in the old, become the truth in the new. The New Testament priests are those that administer the sacraments.
Timothy was an elder in the church of one doctrine, yet he was very young. Historical documentation tells us he was a bishop of Ephesus in Turkey. Bishops are both bishops and priests who perform the sacramental office. When one is ordained, his ministry becomes sacramental. It is ordained by God through the laying on of hands of the bishop, and given special graces by the Holy Spirit.
John in Revelation tells us, “He has made us a Kingdom of priests.” Priest as in Hiereus. This is the entire mystical body inside the high Priest Jesus Christ. Peter says, “You are a chosen people a Holy Nation a Royal Priesthood.” Paul says: “That I should be the minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles; sanctifying the gospel of God, that the oblation of the Gentiles may be made acceptable and sanctified in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 15:16) In Paul writing to the Romans, he is writing as a priest of the church who in the sacramental office, through the Holy Spirit, sanctifies the oblation of bread and wine. Paul is describing his own ministry which he was called to by God. In the Greek, he is using a variant of the word “hiereus”.
He explains, “of the grace from God that makes him a “minister of Christ to the Gentiles in a priestly service (hierougounta=priestly work.) The bread that becomes the Eucharist through the Holy Spirit is sanctified. Paul tells us, “Is not the bread that we break, participation in the body of Christ?
Webster’s defines the word “sanctify” as to, set apart to a sacred purpose or to religious use consecrate, to free from sin : purify to impart or impute sacredness, inviolability, or respect to… to make productive of holiness or piety.
An oblation is an unbloody sacrifice. In the Old Testament the unbloody sacrifices are of bread and wine. Paul offers a consecrated, holy, unbloody, oblation through the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, for the Gentiles. Through the Holy Spirit, the priest of the mystical body, sanctified bread and wine, therefore setting it apart, consecrating it, making it holy for a holy purpose. An offering to God through Jesus Christ our high priest and mediator in the Holy of Holies, for the sins of the entire world. The holy of holies in the meeting tent represents heaven. The holies is the church. This is a prophecy of Malachy fulfilled.
“For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 1:11)
The Gentiles were not baptized into the church until after the cross, so this clean oblation is offered from where the sun rises to where it sets, after the cross. The Old Covenant is fulfilled in the new. In the old, God told Moses that the bread of the presence must always be placed before Him. This bread was to be eaten every Sabbath by the priests in a holy place. Three times a year the sacred bread along with consecrated wine, was brought out of the holies to the Jews. The table containing the bread and wine was raised and the priests would say, “behold God’s love for you.”
The types are fulfilled in the heavenly realities. “This is my body”. Behold Gods love for you. Christ raised this image to the covenant memorial of the cross where His glorified essence that does not conform to time, space, and matter, in the Eucharist, is present before the Father before the Father sees the sins of the world. This is called a covenant memorial. It is a covenant memorial of the crucifixion of Christ. Christ at the last supper told the first priests of His church to, “do this in memory of me.” He was saying, keep the covenant memorial of the cross before the Father for the sins of the world, like the bread of the presence was in type. Without the Holy Mass, the crucifixion is only an execution. This priesthood that was established by the apostles through God, was passed on to their disciples, and continues into our present day.
The word covenant comes from the Semitic word “berit”. It means to cut a covenant. It means an oath secured by a shedding of blood. “This is my blood of the New Covenant”…
We can see the priesthood in scripture and we can confirm it with history. St. Hegesippus (A.D. 180) records that the Apostle, St. James the Less, wore Temple vestments; and St. Polycrates of Ephesus ( A.D. 196) records that St. John the Beloved Apostle, wore a primitive Bishop’s mitre, in which he was buried. The Holy Mass is indigenous to Christianity. There is no Holy Mass without apostolic succession of the priesthood.
“The oriental liturgy, or mass, which bears the name of this apostle (James the just) is mentioned by Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople, and by the council in Trullo, and is of venerable antiquity. St Basil, indeed, testifies that the words of the sacred invocation, in the consecration of the bread and the cup, were not committed to writing, but learned and preserved by tradition, down to the fourth century.” (Butlers Lives of The Fathers, Martyrs and Other Saints.” )
Irenaeus (died about 202) a disciple of Polycarp who was a disciple of John the apostle tells us, “For David had been appointed a priest by God, although Saul persecuted him. For all the righteous possess the sacerdotal rank. And all the apostles of the Lord are priests, who do inherit here neither lands nor houses, but serve God and the altar continually.” (Irenaeus Against Heresies Book IV, Chapter 8)
From the book titled Clement of Rome Recognitions book 6 ch 15. The author is talking about Peter and his priestly office. “and baptized them; and celebrating the Eucharist with them, he appointed, as bishop over them, Maro, who had entertained him in his house, and who was now perfect in all things; and with him he ordained twelve presbyters and deacons at the same time. He also instituted the order of widows, and arranged all the services of the Church; and charged them all to obey their bishop in all things that he should command them.”
Hippolytus of Rome (170 – 235 AD) When a deacon is to be ordained, he is chosen after the fashion of those things said above, the bishop alone in like manner imposing his hands upon him as we have prescribed. In the ordaining of a deacon, this is the reason why the bishop alone is to impose his hands upon him: he is not ordained to the priesthood, but to serve the bishop and to fulfill the bishop’s command. He has no part in the council of the clergy, but is to attend to his own duties and is to acquaint the bishop with such matters as are needful. . . .On a presbyter, however, let the presbyters impose their hands because of the common and like Spirit of the clergy. Even so, the presbyter has only the power to receive [the Spirit], and not the power to give [the Spirit]. That is why a presbyter does not ordain the clergy; for at the ordaining of a presbyter, he but seals while the bishop ordains (The Apostolic Tradition 9 [A.D. 215]).
We must not deny facts. We must build on facts in order to establish a clearer image of truth that has been lost to most of our world. Scripture through proper exegesis shows us a Priesthood established by God through the apostles. If there is a priesthood established by God then there is a sacrifice that is worthy of God that the priesthood has been ordained to offer. The early history of the church confirms this priesthood and shows us the growth of the priesthood established. All those who have been given a Trinitarian baptism are part of the Royal Priesthood who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb in the Holy Mass. Many modern Christians have received a valid Trinitarian baptism, but do not participate in what that baptism calls us to. It will always come down to faith though. The great doctor of the church Thomas Aquinas said, “with faith, no explanation is necessary. Without faith, no explanation is possible.”
“Christ our true pasch (Passover Lamb) has been sacrificed. Let us keep the feast. (1 Cor 5:7)
Every Holy Mass, heard with devotion, produces in our souls marvelous effects, abundant spiritual and material graces which we, ourselves, do not know…It is easier for the earth to exist without the sun than without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!” St. Padre Pio
Luke Haskell is a Catholic Apologist and can be found on Facebook and LinkedIn
