MSI Press Blog

  Excerpt from Chapter 6 I didn’t convert for marriage, but I think my husband’s soul was meant to convert with mine. The day that I met Travis, I was 16 years old and had just been elected all-school treasurer of our public high school. I was wearing khakis and a white short-sleeved blouse from Hollister to look “professional,” and my hair—which my Conair straightener pulverized every morning—laid totally flat against my head. He was a year older than I and had been elected school president. I never saw boys my age wearing suits and ties, so I was enamored with his sharp outfit. He had choppy, light brown hair and nerdy glasses. He reached out and shook my hand. I decided on the spot that I was in love with him.   Alas, Travis had a girlfriend already, so I spent the rest of high school being hopelessly in love with him (as in, the “crying while listening to Taylor Swift” kind of love). Sometimes, I pretended that I needed a lift to various student government events even thou...

  God’s grace and God’s forgiveness are inseparable in Catholic theology because they are two movements of the same divine action: God restoring a broken relationship. Grace is God giving Himself; forgiveness is God removing what blocks that gift. You cannot have one without the other. God’s Forgiveness as the Opening of the Relationship Catholic teaching begins with a simple but profound truth: sin ruptures communion with God , and only God can repair that rupture. Forgiveness is God’s act of clearing away the barrier so that divine life can flow again. Two core teachings shape this: Forgiveness removes sin, which the Church calls the “obstacle” to grace. Grace is the very life of God shared with the soul, so forgiveness is what makes room for that life to enter. This is why the Church insists that forgiveness is not merely a legal pardon. It is a relational restoration. God forgives so that He can give Himself. Grace as God’s Self‑Gift Catholic theology defines grace a...

  Catholics venerate the Cross because, in Catholic dogma, the Cross is not merely the instrument of Christ’s death but the place where the entire mystery of salvation is accomplished. Veneration is not worship of an object; it is reverence for what God did through it. The Cross as the Center of Salvation Catholic teaching holds that Christ’s Passion is the decisive act by which humanity is redeemed. The Cross is therefore: the altar of the New Covenant, where Christ offers Himself to the Father the instrument of victory, where sin, death, and the devil are defeated the revelation of divine love, where God shows the full extent of His mercy This is why St. Paul can say, “We preach Christ crucified” and “May I never boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Cross is not an unfortunate detail in the story of Jesus; it is the hinge of the entire Christian faith. Why Catholics Venerate (Not Worship) the Cross Catholic dogma makes a clear distinction: Worship (latria)...