Catholic Teaching

Category Archives: Catholic Teaching

LifeTeen.com Blog

What If I Told You The Truth

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Editor’s Note: Can you see the truth through the Religion vs. Jesus debate? We’re praying for you as you talk about this issue and the viral video with your friends. We loved how well Peter Kreeft articulates this question about “church” in his book Before I Go: Letters to Our Children about what Really Matters. Here is the truth, boiled down to the basics without any fancy distractions. “What’s the Big Deal about Church? Why is she so important? Because she is how we know Jesus. She tells us (by her teaching), shows us (by her saints) and feeds us [...]

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Jesus Wasn’t Born on Christmas?

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I’ll never forget when I learned Jesus wasn’t really born on December 25th. It shocked me. I felt cheated – like somehow my adolescent life had just lost some of its innocence. Thank God, I thought, Santa was still real – that would have really shattered my holiday season.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

The Immaculate Conception: It’s About Mary.

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First, we need to be clear here. The Immaculate Conception is not about the conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb. It’s about the conception of Mary in her mother’s womb years before. While Mary was conceived in the normal, human way through her parents (Joachim and Anne), the Immaculate Conception speaks to the fact that Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Consubstantial: What Does That Mean?

Consubstantial Meaning

But when we talk about the union of God the Father with God the Son, it is not enough to just say that they are the same. They are both God – one God in three unique Persons. By asking us to now use the word consubstantial when we pray the Creed (remember, the Creed is a statement of what we believe as Catholics) the Church is reminding us of the importance of professing that the Father and the Son are the exact same substance.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

What is Advent?

What is the Season of Advent

To God everything is exposed: all of our faults, imperfections, personal secrets but also all of our talents, traits, successes and achievements – that’s the good news. The even better news is that God is always seeking you and me.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

What is Mass?: A Resurrection Celebration

Why did we switch the “Sabbath” from Saturday to Sunday? What does the Mass have to do with the Resurrection, besides being on the same day of the week, Sunday? How does that effect me? How can I live out the Resurrection celebration in my daily life? Fr. Fred explains the answers to these questions and tells us how we can still celebrate Christ’s rising from the dead today!

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LifeTeen.com Blog

A Full Contact Sport: Why Participate in Mass

Here in South Bend, people get pretty pumped over Notre Dame football. They dress in blue and gold, paint their faces, prepare food all night for the tailgates, even get up early. When the game starts, the crowd goes nuts! Cheers. Standing. Sitting. High fives to strangers you don’t know. We are fully engaged in the event. I wonder what would happen if we participated with the same heart and passion at Mass on Sunday?

Let’s be honest. Mass … it’s boring, right? Growing up, that’s what I thought.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

To Protect and Serve: The Truth About Guardian Angels

Yes, guardian angels really do exist! In fact, every year on October 2nd the Church celebrates a Feast Day in honor of Guardian Angels. Your guardian angel is one of God’s greatest gifts to you. They are a source of His power. They never leave your side yet they are constantly looking upon the face of God, too. Guardian angels are not only real they are very active. You should invite yours into your day. Invite your angel to pray with you, to protect you, to help keep you focused on God and to protect you from evil and from harm.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Three Misconceptions of Confirmation

Confirmation is probably the most misunderstood Sacrament out of the seven. Let’s take a quick look at the misconceptions, shall we?

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LifeTeen.com Blog

The End is Coming…at some point: Rapture and Catholicism

A few months ago, I first heard the news that the world would come to an end on May 21st, 2011. It really bummed me out because I had big plans this year for Memorial Day. But since then, I’ve heard it more and more and I bet you have too. It seems this idea started a while back, when a small Christian group from Oakland, CA stated that May 21st, 2011 would be the end of the world. The prediction was based on their founder, Harold Camping, and his creative Biblical mathematics in which he calculated the exact date [...]

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Is it "Illogical" to Believe in the Resurrection?

St. Paul had to deal with a lot of “high minded”, philosophical types in his day. Most were very prideful, long on academics but short on humility. Some people back then claimed that Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead (as we celebrate this weekend). Rather than mince words, Paul gave it to them straight (in the verse up above). Many people will tell you that “based on human logic” the Resurrection makes no sense. The first thing we need to remember is that “human logic” is not omnipotence. God makes it very clear that “(His) ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts.” (Is. 55:8-9)

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Finding Christ in a Secular Easter

I recently heard someone ranting about how commercialized Easter has become and how there is “no trace of Christ” left in His holiday. I understood the person’s concerns and agreed, in part, with their assertions. The more I got to thinking about it, though, I felt like their thoughts, while valid, were a little bit short–sighted. Christ is everywhere. His death and resurrection are everywhere. We just need to know where to look and how to uncover them. If your focus is on Christ and your heart set on His love, you can take almost anything the world dishes out [...]

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LifeTeen.com Blog

On Fasting (John Paul II Lenten Reflections)

“Why do your disciples not fast?” Jesus answered: “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast” (Mt 9:15) Why fasting? It is necessary to give this question a wider and deeper answer, in order to clarify the relationship between fasting and “metanoia”, that is, that spiritual change which brings man closer to God. Food and drink are indispensable for man to live, he uses them and must use them, but he may not abuse them in any way. [...]

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Video LifeTeen.com Blog

What Do You Believe? Video: The Apostles' Creed

We dug into our Life Teen video archives and pulled out this video on the Apostle’s creed. Give it a watch!

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Pornography: The Truth behind the Lie

Pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry. Internet sales alone reach over $5 billion per year. More than half of its viewers online are men (72%), but in recent years more and more women are viewing pornography (28%). Pornography is everywhere and easily accessible to anyone of any age at any time. With a culture that has become obsessed with self-gratification and instantaneous satisfaction, it is no surprise that the pornography industry continues to make money. But, what are they really selling?

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LifeTeen.com Blog

On Bended Knee: Why Jesus' Name is Important

I love it when people use my name. “Nice to meet you Christina.” “Thank you Christina.” “Christina, it was great to see you again.” There’s something so affirming and personal about it. Your name represents you and who you are. When someone says your name, you know you’re not just another number to them, not just a face passing by. Instead, you matter.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

From A Father: The Brotherhood of the Priesthood

All priests, who are constituted in the order of the priesthood by the sacrament of Order, are bound together by an intimate sacramental brotherhood…” — Catechism of the Catholic Church 1568

I grew up in a house with two older brothers. As the youngest, I wasn’t always a part of the activities and sports that filled their days. I took my share of punches, and I enacted my share of revenge on them. My brothers still recall that I used to keep lists of their wrongdoing so I could blackmail them for things. (For the record, I don’t condone that behavior.)

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LifeTeen.com Blog

My Brothers and Sisters: The Church as Family

Recently we were blessed to receive a newly ordained priest to minister at our parish. He shared with me that it was weird to hear the title “Father” before his name. His thoughts brought me back to when I was newly ordained and I struggled with the title also. I thought that I was too young to be “Father” – most people who were calling me “Father” were my parents’ or grandparents’ ages.

So why do we use titles in our parishes or religious communities that also describe our closest relatives?

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Heaven's Waiting Room: The Real Truth on Purgatory

Every year around the Feast of All Souls (November 2nd) my inbox fills with questions regarding the Catholic Church’s teaching on Purgatory. Some emails are from Protestant Christians wanting to know why the Catholic Church “made Purgatory up?” Other emails are from people wondering if the Church still teaches the doctrine of Purgatory, since they don’t hear much about it anymore.

Purgatory is very much a reality.

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LifeTeen.com Podcast

2.24 – Women Priests

Why doesn’t the Catholic Church allow women to become priests?

Our short answer comes from Father Matt Lowry from the Diocese of Phoenix. Joining him in the longer discussion is catechist and Life Teen staff member Katie Heller.

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