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Mark's Musings by Mark King Often we hear about heresies in connection to our Church history. The word has a definite sinister aspect to it, but in reality many heresies have helped our Church define its doctrines. Yep. In some ways, heresies have been good. Most heresies start out as questions concerning elements in our beliefs that spark some controversy. One such controversy was concerning whether or not the Blessed Virgin should be called “Mother of God.” The question arose from Nestorius, who was the patriarch of Constantinople. He and his followers supported the idea that Christ was in fact two different “persons”, one human and the other divine. They believed that the human Jesus was the one born of the Virgin and therefore Mary could not be called Theotokos, Mother of God (or God-bearer), since she did not give birth to the divine Jesus. This heresy was condemned in the year 431 at the Council of Ephesus and the correct belief that Christ was one Person with two distinct natures, human and divine, was defined. Since only persons (not natures) are born of humans, Mary gave birth to the Person of Jesus who is both human and divine in natures. Therefore, she can definitively be called the Mother of God. According to Jimmy Akin, author of the excellent reference “The Fathers Know Best: Your Essential Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church”, the man who supposedly founded the heresy detailed above died in communion with the Church. He may have in fact been guilty of only not being able to express his views correctly! There are many more heresies to discuss and we will do so. I recommend you get the book “The Fathers Know Best” and keep it as a reference source in your home. It is an excellent source of information on the early Fathers, their actual words, plus some very good information on the Councils and the territories of the Holy Land. Reference: Akin, Jimmy; “The Fathers Know Best: Your Essential Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church”; 2010, Catholic Answers, San Diego; page 90.

Camelot Comes to New York by Inez Creekmore In November of 1963 I was a young teenager in Miami. I was President of the Junior Catholic Daughters of America, which was like Scouts in the Catholic Church that I attended. I was thrilled to find out that I was chosen to go to New York City for a week to attend a national convention of Catholic Youth. We went by train and I remember it was a twenty-three hour trip and we never slept as we were all so excited. The first day I was setting up our booth, and from behind a man asked me what I was doing. I responded, “Playing house.” I turned around and it was Cardinal Spellman. I apologized and then kissed his ring. The next day as we were sight seeing , I ran into a man and nearly knocked him and myself over. As I looked up I said, “Oh my God!’ and he said, “No, I’m Moses.” It was Charlton Heston. The highlight was the last night of the convention at the banquet. Cardinal Spellman said a friend of his wanted to speak to us. At first, I heard “Hail to the Chief.” And there he was in person, our first Catholic President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. We were all so excited and proud as he spoke to us about our duty as Catholics to spread Christianity by our works and deeds as we were the future leaders of this country. When I got home I was still on cloud nine, until that awful day one week after I left New York and we got the announcement that he was assassinated. Nearly five decades later, his face is still very vivid in my mind. May he rest in peace. God bless JFK. "...I come here today...not just because you are doing well and because you are outstanding students, but because we expect something of you. And unless in this free country of ours we are able to demonstrate that we are able to make this society work and progress, unless we can hope that from you we are going to get back all of the talents which society has helped develop in you, then, quite obviously, all the hopes of all of us that freedom will not only endure but prevail, of course, will be disappointed. So we ask the best of you...I congratulate you on what you have done, and most of all I congratulate you on what you are going to do." (JFK's remarks in New York City to the National Convention of the Catholic Youth Organization, November 15, 1963) (For more info regarding the "Catholic Daughters of the Americas", go to www.catholicdaughters.org)

Saint Thomas is Going to the Dogs!  by Susanne Barabas Here we go again.  Here is the word search for March.  It's all about dogs , and who doesn't like   dogs?  I have an assortment of names of dogs for you to find.  Look up, down, diagonally, and you will find them.  Hope you don't have a "ruff" time finding them.  Sorry, I couldn't resist.  Solutions to puzzle will be found in the April edition of "Spirit in Me."  Have fun!

February Word Search Solution

Saints Preserve Us by Mark King