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'The children lose': Catholic leaders say Trump shelter closure will scar migrant kids
The Trump administration’s decision to shut down a refuge run by the Catholic Church in Miami for migrant children who come to the U.S. alone will traumatize kids who have already experienced extreme hardship on their journeys here, Catholic leaders said on Thursday
During a press conference, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski and Catholic ...Read more
The God Squad: The suffering of the innocent is a mystery
Q: There are multiple reasons that bad things happen to us or those that we love. Even more frustrating is why do they often happen to good people? I lost my wife to Parkinson’s, as did Father Tom. She was such a very good and special person to her students and others that it made me search hard for answers. So here is my attempt to help ...Read more
Why is society opposed to the Ten Commandments being posted in public schools?
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
Q: Some of my friends are screaming because a ruling was passed in Louisiana that the Ten Commandments can be posted in public schools. I know personally that many people believe these are good guidelines for living. Why is society opposed to the Ten Commandments being posted in public schools to ...Read more
Why are people so afraid of the practice of discipline?
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
Q: When I worked for a corporation, it withheld my taxes. It always made me angry. I felt I should be given the right to oversee my income. Then I became self-employed and didn’t have the discipline to set aside funds to pay my taxes. I spent every dollar I had and then came up short. It was a hard ...Read more
Is there a difference between being sorry for our sins and repenting of our sins?
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
Q: Is there a difference between being sorry for our sins and repenting of our sins? What I hear is that we are to be sorry for our sin and try not to do it again. Yet there are so many who live immoral lives but say they love Jesus. Repentance seems a much different thing. – R.S.
A: The dictionary ...Read more
What can I learn from my girlfriend's betrayal?
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
Q: My girlfriend moved to another city because she was offered a modeling job and talked me into following her there, since we planned to be married. Carelessly, I moved before getting a job lined up, and when I arrived, she told me she had met someone else and walked away from our wedding plans. I am ...Read more
How can people claim that they live for Jesus while conforming to the things of the world?
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
Q: I was appalled at the degrading entertainment displayed at the Super Bowl halftime show. The alternative wasn’t much better. How can people from all persuasions claim that they live for Jesus while continuing to be conformed to the things of the world? Some famous personalities had their Jesus ...Read more
Can an atheist live a life as a perfect person?
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
Q: My friend claims her grandmother was a perfect person, and she was an atheist. When I asked her how this could be, she said that her grandmother followed the law perfectly and had no need to repent. She said her grandmother simply lived a life full of compassion and mercy for others. Is this ...Read more
The God Squad: Passover and Easter thoughts from readers
Q: Dear Rabbi Gellman, bravo, bravo and thank you for your cogent lessons on the relationship between the Jewish Passover and the Christian Easter. I spent my high school years in the seminary studying for the Catholic priesthood (in the ’60s, so I am OLD!). We were taught, and I have never forgotten, that our Jewish ...Read more
Why did Jesus ask and answer His own questions, even claiming that He spoke as God Himself?
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
Q: If Jesus was truly all-knowing and humble, why did He ask and answer His own questions, even claiming that He spoke as God Himself? – J.Q.
A: Jesus is the only man who ever lived who was sinless. He could stand in front of men and ask, “Which of you convicts Me of sin?” (John 8:46, NKJV). He ...Read more
Why would God create such creatures that produced a son like Cain, who killed his own brother?
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
Q: If the first people – Adam and Eve – were created perfect, why did they bring to this world what is called “the great fall”? They had to be untamed to end up sowing such evil as taught “in the beginning.” Why would God create such creatures that produced a son like Cain, who killed his ...Read more
Is sin the reason the world is a mess?
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
Q: I recently saw a book titled “What’s Wrong with the World?” The author puts forth the answer: Sin is responsible for the state of the world. It seems that the real answer with what’s wrong with the world is evil. If we could find a way to obliterate evil, we wouldn’t be concerned ...Read more
What is the meaning of Jesus saying when He was on the cross, “It is finished,” and then He died?
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
Q: Celebrating Easter troubles me. What is the meaning of Jesus saying when He was on the cross, “It is finished,” and then He died? – W.C.
A: At Eastertime, we remember the significance of Jesus’ death upon the cross. Choirs across the world sing, “When I survey the wondrous cross,” and ...Read more
Why is Easter so overshadowed by Christmas?
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
Q: It seems to me that Easter is greatly overshadowed by Christmas and that people are not as prone to celebrate Jesus at Easter as they are at Christmas. One of my friends said it was easier to accept the birth of a little baby as a gift to the world than a Jesus who died at the hands of people. – C...Read more
The God Squad: Easter for Jews
Last week we explored what Christians can learn from the meaning of Passover. This was an easy task since three of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) taught that the Last Supper of Jesus was a Passover seder on the first night and the fourth (John) taught that it was a Passover meal on another ...Read more
The God Squad: Passover for Christians
During the winter holiday season of Christmas and Chanukah, I offered some thoughts on what Christians can learn from Chanukah and what Jews can learn from Christmas. Now, as the world and our spiritual rhythms awaken to spring, I offer again an interfaith offering of what Christians can learn from Passover...Read more
The God Squad: Protestant Lent
Q: As a born and bred and somewhat devout (liberal) Presbyterian, I want to respond to your question, "What do you give up for Lent?" Of course, as Protestants we were never taught to or expected to "give up" something. It has only been recently in my faith walk that we have been studying different ways to approach Lent.
We ...Read more
The God Squad: More Lent lovers and one Lent hater
Q: For Lent, I decided to embrace Pope Leo’s suggestion that we should disarm our language, avoiding harsh words and rash judgment. I am not Catholic; I am Italian Methodist, which, according to someone in the Diocese of Denver, is pretty much the same thing. Anyway, I know good papal advice when I hear it, so up until Sunday I was doing ...Read more
The God Squad: Lent is alive!
Q: Dear Rabbi Gellman, I just finished reading your article "What do you give up for Lent? As a Catholic person, my husband and I raised our children in the Catholic faith. And as we were raised we taught our children to "give up something for Lent. It was always candy and chocolate – they could break their fast on Sunday and have sweets. ...Read more
The God Squad: What have you given up for Lent?
When Father Tom was alive I used to tease him about Lent which are the 40 days before Easter. When I was a kid in Milwaukee, I had Catholic friends who would beg me for my bologna sandwiches on Fridays because Friday Lenten meals for them were small and fishy. By the time Tommy and I were grown it seemed to me that meat meals had begun to sneak ...Read more
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