Jenna Marie Cooper

The smoke that rises from the burning of incense has for millennia been understood by the Christian community as a symbol of the prayers of the faithful rising up to God.

Jesus’ baptism truly is a major “turning of the page” in Jesus’ life, since, after his baptism at the hands of John the Baptist his quiet, hidden life became one of public ministry, wherein he actively sought to make his saving mission and identity known and proclaimed.

The point of religious art and imagery is not so much to give us a perfect, historically accurate picture of events that occurred in the life of Jesus.

The catechism is meant as a summary of core Catholic beliefs and is widely available both in print and online — and there are a few searchable web versions of the catechism that make it fairly simple to navigate.

The diocesan chancery office would have access to maps of parish territorial boundaries, and would also be familiar with any “quirks” of local sacramental record-keeping.

most dioceses in United States have protocols which require an individual to have medical and psychiatric evaluations, to rule out potential natural causes, before they can receive a major exorcism.

Even though St. Peter was the first pope, his status as the “first among equals” among the apostles doesn’t automatically mean that writing was his personal strong suit.