Jesus Christ – The New Passover Sacrifice

The Jewish Passover has been celebrated since the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. It commemorates the story from the book of Exodus and their birth as a nation under the leadership of Moses. The Passover sacrifice, is the sacrifice that the Torah mandates to be brought on the eve of Passover.

Stations of the Cross

If you walk into just about any Catholic Church today, you will probably see an artistic display of “The Stations of the Cross.” The Stations may be made of stone, wood, or metal, sculptured or carved, or they may be merely paintings or engravings. They are usually placed at certain intervals around the walls of a church, though sometimes they are to be found in the open air, especially on roads leading to a church or shrine.

Sacramentals: “Aids to Grace”

 The Sacraments were instituted by Jesus Christ and they give us grace. Sacramentals are sacred signs instituted by the Church which help prepare us to receive the fruits of the sacraments. Some examples of sacramentals are blessings, making the sign of the cross, holy water, the veneration of relics, medals, statues, the scapular, the rosary, prayerful reading of scripture, the rites of administering the sacraments, votive candles, incense, pilgrimages, alms-giving, the blessing given by a (bishop, priest or deacon), blessings with chrism (oil), and crucifixes. All these things are sacred insofar as

Do Catholics Worship Statues?

You may have heard some Christians make the claim that because Catholics have statues of Jesus and the saints in their churches or homes, they are violating God’s commandment: “You shall not make for yourself a graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow down to them or serve them” (Ex. 20:4–5); “Alas, this people have sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold” (Ex. 32:31).  

Do Catholics re-sacrifice Jesus at every Mass?

What happens in the Mass? Do we as Catholics believe that Jesus is actually sacrificed anew on the cross at every Holy Mass? Many Christians who are not Catholic seem to think so. But why? I think one reason is because of a misconcetion of what they have heard from other brothers and sisters in Christ who are not Catholic. Also, many probably have never given it much thought. And so, it is understandable that from the outside looking in, someone might think that a new sacrafice is being offered at each Mass.

Why do Catholics wear crucifixes and most other Christians wear just plain crosses?

If you have ever watched movies about vampires, demons and devils, you may have seen that a crucifix was used to ward them off. The assumption was that the power of the cross destroys the power of evil. Well, the death of Jesus on the cross does just that — it enables believers to overcome sin. No wonder the demons run!

Easter Sunday is almost here, when we celebrate the resurrection of our “Lord and Savior” Jesus Christ. All of us as Christians, particularly during Easter, rejoice in the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. We see crosses in churches, on walls, and as jewelry. Some have an empty cross; some have the body (Corpus) of Jesus on them. The latter are called crucifixes.