This coming Sunday is the 22nd Sunday. In yesterday’s post we refocused our attention to the Gospel of Mark, last proclaimed on the 16th Sunday as we focused on St. John’s “Bread of Life Discourse.” In this week’s gospel Mark 7:8, refers to “human traditions,” a verse which non-Catholic folk will often hold up as proof text of the manner in which the Catholic Church has gone astray, introducing all manner of non-Biblical beliefs. The usual list includes the veneration of Mary, her Immaculate Conception and her bodily Assumption into Heaven. There is also the transubstantiation, praying to saints, the confessional, penance, purgatory, and more that make their topical list of errors. Continue reading →