The Prophets, by Ryan P. Hanson

The Prophets were the messengers of God. He told them what he wanted the Jews to know. Some of the prophets told of the coming of the Messiah, others about exile and how they would be conquered.

There are two different classes of prophets: the Major Prophets, who are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, and the Minor Prophets, who are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi. The only thing to distinguish who is a minor prophet and who is a major prophet is the size of the book they wrote in the Bible. The Major Prophets made larger books and the Minors made smaller books.

The Prophet Isaiah talks of God’s majesty and love for his people. Isaiah tells of the salvation of the Jewish people, of the Messiah as “Emmanuel.” It tells that no offense against God will go unpunished and of the fall of Babylon.

The Prophet Jeremiah was sent to the last surviving tribe of Israel, Judah. He told of the Judgment of God, that we should be faithful to the LORD, and to repent.

The Prophets Ezekiel and Daniel prophesied during the exile of Israel; they tell of the judgment of Israel and the surrounding nations. Ezekiel also had a vision of Heaven. They prophesied that God would dwell with his people in the New Jerusalem.

The Minor Prophets were sent all over the land of Caanan. They prophesied from 400 to 800 B.C. They told of the fall of Assyria and Babylonia. They warned people who had strayed from the ways of God.

The Prophets were very important to the Jews (and to us) and without them we would not know about the coming of Christ and the Importance of Jesus as well as we do now.

Sola Fide and the Book of James, by Emma Bidelspach

What is Sola Fide? Sola Fide is the belief that you can only go to Heaven by faith alone. The book of James states that “What is it, brothers, if you say you have faith but don’t have works? Can faith save you?” (James 2, 14). Sola Fide does not believe in faith and works together.

What are the flaws of Sola Fide? The Catholic Church believes that you need more than to just have faith. Yes, you need faith, but not only faith. The book of James states “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘go in peace, keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what good is that?” (James 2, 15-16). This means faith by itself is nothing. The book of James explains, while talking of Abraham, “You see faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works” (James 2:22). For example, say if a person says they’re Catholic but never attends Mass and doesn’t work to grow their faith they won’t get anywhere. We are all called to go to Mass weekly, work on our faith and receive the Sacraments regularly. The book of James also states “ for just as the body without the spirits is dead, so faith without works is also dead“ (James 2:25-26). You won’t get anywhere if you only have one or the other but not both.

In conclusion, you can’t just have faith or just have works, but both faith and works together they aid in your getting to Heaven. This is why the Catholic Church doesn’t believe in the principle of Sola Fide.

Emma Bidelspach acknowledges her use of ewtn.com and the Catholic Youth Bible for her article.

St. John of the Cross, by Evelyn Wagner

St. John of the Cross was born in 1542 in Avila, Spain. His father had worked for some wealthy relatives, but after he married John’s mother they fired and disowned him because his mother was from the lower class. St. John’s family experienced poverty and, to make things worse, his father died when he was only three. His brother, Luis, died when John was five, likely from malnutrition. Thankfully, his mother was able to get a job as a weaver to help feed the family. John then attended a boarding school for poor and orphaned children. When he was just a child, he decided that he would follow a religious path. When he got older, he attended a Jesuit school and worked in hospitals.

In 1563 John joined the Carmelite Order. He was sent to study theology and philosophy at the university in Salamanca, Spain. He eventually became a Biblical expert. When he became a priest in 1567, he considered living the cloistered life where he would live in individual cells. But then he met Theresa of Avila and she asked St. John to follow her. He was drawn to the strict routine of Theresa. She and her followers went barefoot. They were known as the discalced Carmelites.

Theresa founded a new monastery on Nov. 28, 1568. John and his friars relocated their monastery, and they remained there until 1572. In 1572, John traveled to Avila to become the confessor and spiritual guide of Theresa. While in Avila, he had a vision. He drew a picture called “Christ from Above.” It shows Jesus on the cross looking down at us. John was ordered to leave the monastery in 1577, but he refused because he had orders from a higher authority to stay. On December 2, 1577, a bunch of Carmelites broke into his house and kidnapped him. He was brought to the order’s main house in Toledo and placed before court on a trial of disobedience. He was put into prison.

His cell was so small he barely had room to lie on the floor. He was fed only bread and water with occasional scraps of fish. He was weekly lashed in public. While he was in prison, he became a poet. He wrote poems on paper that were smuggled to him by his guard. Finally, after nine months of this torture, John was able to escape.

He went to Toledo and joined Teresa’s nuns who sent him to a hospital to recover. When he healed, he was sent to Baeza to be rector of a college and to support the Discalced Carmelites in Andalusia. During John’s last years, John established new houses across Spain. Sadly in 1591, he became ill with a skin condition. It resulted in an infection which caused his death on December 14, 1591. St. John of the Cross was beatified by Pope Clement X in 1675 and he was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726. He is the patron saint of mystics, Spanish poets, and contemplatives. John’s feast day is on December 14.

Evelyn Wagner acknowledges her use of https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=65

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-john-of-the-cross/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-of-the-Cross In her article.

Good News Team and Contributors

Editor in Chief: Thomas M. Cabeen

Co-President: Ryan Hanson

Webmaster: Benjamin Wells

Contributors: Avery Bidelspach, Emma Bidelspach, Evelyn Wagner, Benjamin Wells, Alex Hanson, Gabriel Ringwald, Ryan P. Hanson, Mary Catherine Vallejo

Poet: Benjamin Cabeen

Head of Distribution: Benjamin Cabeen

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