Paraclete Press

Ask most Christians what the word "stewardship" means to them, and you will most likely get answers that center around giving money to the church. But in reality, money is just one of the gifts God has given us to use to His glory. James 1:17 says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights." Faithful and Wise looks at how we can expand our giving into every facet of our lives: our possessions, our time, our talents and skills, our physical environment, our spiritual environment, our money.

When we serve God with all the gifts He has given us, the blessings to ourselves and others will be multiplied far beyond what we can imagine.… (mehr)

Tony Jones portrays the community of the Didache as "trying to figure it out." Tony seems to have lost sight of Tradition. The community of the Didache did not spring up out of no where. It was certainly started by people who had some connection with the Apostles, and, in fact, was probably founded by the Apostles themselves. This community wasn't trying to "figure it out" as if they didn't have the basics. The things stated in this document were not pulled out of a hat. Rather they were teachings the community had received within the stream of the Apostolic Tradition. Certainly, traveling prophets spoke and helped them understand more, at times, the Tradition they had already received. The were not creating the substance of the Tradition, however, which is Jesus Christ working in the Church through the Holy Spirit.

Tony also seems to be unaware of the Orthodox practice of fasting before reception of the Holy Mysteries, such as Baptism and Holy Communion.

The discussion group Tony leads seems to think that if the Didache doesn't mention a particular phrase such as "the Blood of Christ," then it must have been unaware of any teaching about the Blood of Christ. Such an assumption is unfounded and is a largely useless argument from silence.

On the distinction between bishops and presbyters, read the following article in OrthodoxWiki: https://orthodoxwiki.org/Presbyter… (mehr)

In this powerful new DVD presentation, Father Thomas Scirghi introduces parents, godparents, and those involved in RCIA to the Sacrament of Baptism and its role in the church today. He answers coming questions:
- Why do we baptize?
- Why did John the Baptist baptize Jesus?
- When did the Church begin baptizing infants?
- What’s the role of a godparent?
- How is ritual important?

Authoritative, lively, and full of video examples of baptisms and insights form lay Catholics, Fr. Scirghi then walks through the “Five parts of the ritual of Baptism,: one-by-one, in detail, explaining wheat each step means. he answers tough questions that Catholics have today about this Sacrament, explains what it means to “remember” our Baptism, and how, as Catholics, our Baptism carries us through until our death. (64 minutes)… (mehr)