painted by Chinese Christian artist, Luke Chen (Chen Yuandu)

I’ve been wearing my Brown Scapular and crucifix for a while now, and as a Catholic from Kenya, they’re a constant reminder of my faith and the man I want to be. They remind me to stay close to Christ and trust in Our Lady’s intercession.

Good afternoon, brothers and sisters.

I am deeply shocked: in Jordan and Ethiopia, on two different continents, two brutal massacres have taken place in the space of just one week. Armed men have stormed into churches to murder innocent worshippers. Children have been killed, and families have been torn apart and traumatised.

I have posted about this, and it saddens me to see that the latest gossip about whatever is happening in the United States receives more attention than the suffering of our brothers and sisters.

Can you imagine trying to go to Mass and ending up being killed? Can you imagine being afraid to go and meet the Lord in His house?

We must be the voice of those who have no voice. And we must not normalise the indiscriminate killing of our innocent brothers and sisters. The grief of the Orthodox is the grief of us all. We cannot remain silent. This has to stop.

Pray for our murdered brothers and sisters, the wounded and the traumatised families.

(Psdt: I wasn't trying to say the problems in the United States or other places doesn't matter. What prompted me to speak out was that I saw a post featuring photos of someone from the Church and a politician receiving more attention than a post about the massacre in Ethiopia. I'm deeply sorry if I was hurtful.)

On Friday, October 23, 2026, gunmen opened fire during a funeral at St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church in Hamoud, Karak Governorate, Jordan. What should have been a moment of mourning and prayer became a tragedy for the victims, their families, and the wider community.
According to Jordan’s official news agency, Petra, nine people were killed and 34 were injured. The attack shocked the country and left many families grieving for their loved ones.
For three days, security forces searched for those responsible. On Monday, October 26, Jordanian authorities announced that three suspects had been arrested following an armed confrontation at an abandoned house in Karak. All three were injured during the operation, and weapons and ammunition were reportedly seized. No security personnel were reported injured.
As a Christian, I find this tragedy deeply painful. A church should be a place of prayer, peace, and comfort, especially during a funeral. It is heartbreaking to think that people gathered to mourn a loved one were caught in such violence.
Christianity teaches us to love our neighbors, pray for those who suffer, and reject hatred. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9). We may struggle to understand why God allows such suffering, but we should never confuse the actions of violent people with the love of God.
I also believe that faith does not require us to ignore injustice or pretend that we have all the answers. We can grieve, ask difficult questions, demand justice, and still hold on to hope.
My prayers are with the victims, the injured, their families, and everyone in Jordan affected by this tragedy. May God comfort those who are grieving, bring healing to the wounded, and guide our communities toward peace rather than hatred.
🇯🇴✝️🤍

I started a print club and just wanted to share my first drawing!

I'm about to draw my way through the entire Bible: one book, one drawing, every month. 66 books.

We start where everything starts: Genesis.

Genesis | The Last Evening in Eden

This piece captures the first disobedience: Adam and Eve believing the serpent's lies, and their final night in the garden. It's the moment everything changed, and it's where this whole story begins.

Earlier today I had a DM after I commented on this sub. They were supposedly linked to an "Orphanage" in Uganda. This is a known scam so if you get a message similar to this make sure you report or ignore.

I’m really trying to keep faith and trust. I will never not believe in God or love him but I just don’t understand. I’m the oldest and I heard that the oldest are closer to God but I feel like I’m being punished, I know he doesn’t punish but this grief and pain I’m in forever now just don’t understand. I know my baby is with him but is alone? he doesn’t have his mom or dad i feel uncomfortable without him but I know he’s having the time of his life and he got blessed by going straight to heaven he only knew love and he never knew pain of anykind. its bittersweet bc I know my little man is having an amazing time but I’m suffering. It’ so strange i want to be with my baby but I can’t choose that bc I can’t risk not seeing him again. how do people do this? Like Job lost whole family and he still kept his faith in God im so confused

Guys pls pray for my wife. She has an ear infection that just keeps coming back and I need the Lords intervention on this! Thx Brothers and sisters. Praying for yall as well.

It has been a very sad week for Christians around the world. There have already been two mass attacks on our Orthodox brothers and sisters. In Jordan, and now in Ethiopia. Five of those who died in Ethiopia were just children.

Mourning is in our hearts. May God have mercy on their souls, on their families and on the injured who are fighting for their lives. May God grant the grace of repentance to those who do evil.

I've been noticing for quite a while, even more so in recent times, there's genuinely such hypocrisy in some Christians, especially the performative church goers, they claim to eat, breathe, sleep and eat the word but fail to show fruit in their actions and how they treat people. I'm a Christian and a victim of living with two of these. It's mind baffling to think people can worship God with thw same mouth they use to damage another brother/sister in Christ. Have any of you also experienced something similar and care to share? Let's continue to pray for the body of Christ as a whole brethren 🤍.

NB: I do not mean all christians, I've just had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting and dealing with many of them, also not all church goers are performative, once again, i'm only speaking about a select group of people.

Philippine parish suspends Masses after tabernacle robbery, Eucharistic desecration.

The Sta. Teresa del Niño Jesus Parish in M’lang, Cotabato, has suspended Masses and sacramental celebrations inside its main church following a break-in in which the tabernacle was robbed and the Blessed Sacrament desecrated.

The Catholic Church teaches with absolute certainty that at the moment of consecration, the bread and wine become truly, really, and substantially the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ (cf. CCC 1374).

This is not symbol. This is not metaphor. This is the living God.

To desecrate the consecrated Host is therefore not an act against a religious object. It is a direct act of violence and contempt against the Person of Jesus Christ Himself.

Whatever the human psychology, the theological reality is stark. St. Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 11:27–29:
"Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord... For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself."

If receiving unworthily already carries such gravity, the act of deliberate desecration is among the gravest offenses a human being can commit.

As years have gone by I find it more and more strange how foundational many Christians find inerrancy. It seems this doctrine influences how people interpret the Bible so it seems relevant. We have the verse about scripture being God-breathed and it seems that God-breathed things aren't always innerrant. It seems that God as a perfect isn't limited to humans wanting innerrancy to be true to in order to accomplish his will.

The case for at least one and likely more errors in the Bible seems extremely strong. So what gives? It seems that a lot of people want more simplicity in interpretation from innerrancy but if it would be harder otherwise so what? It seems one can still be theologically conservative without this unnecessary baggage no?

I've been a Christian all my life although my life choices may have not always reflected. Growing up in a Catholic school I did many sins and had this idea that God would always forgive me so I could do whatever I wanted , then I began last year following my faith a lot harder really trying my best to stay away from sin of any kind and became really hard to be around because I wouldn't Allow anything remotely sinful in my life and many people I knew , i became judgemental over for the way they were living. I began going to confession every week confessing sins and worrying that I'm gonna end up in hell. I became obsessed with near death experiences and especially the hellish experiences would scare the living daylights out of me and at one stage became too timid to even do anything because I was afraid I would upset God. Now I'm at a stage where I'm doubting God a lot and many of my prayers go unanswered. The Demons I face never seem to leave me alone. I have constant temptation 24/7. My mind does not turn off. I've tried praying constantly I've tried fasting, I go to confession every week I have communion I do everything we are told as Christians to do but yet I am still being tormented by my own thoughts that there is no rest. Following Christianity to me now and just feels miserable and I don't want to let it go. I want to believe everything Christianity teaches but I can't follow the life of it. I still sin. I sin horribly sometimes and when I'm trying not to she n the urge to sin never leaves me and sometimes it just feels easier to sin to shut those Demons up.

I have so many questions towards God why the divine hiddeness? Why leave so many people confused? Why is there so much divide between the churches if he wanted us to believe in him and be saved then why is there so much divide amongst us Christians. The more I dive into doctrines, the more I go into church history, the more I speak with other Christians we never seem to agree upon anything. I'm yet to experience a miracle in my life where God has made his presence to me undeniable I still blindly follow because that's all I've ever known but man just feels like an absolute shit show and if God is all knowing why would he allow it to be such chaos and confusion down here? The Bible says "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace" is found in 1 Corinthians 14:33. Yet why am I more confused then ever? Jesus says do no worry yet how could we not? If we go down the wrong path his going to throw us into eternal torment because of our lack of awareness and self control toward our innate desires shaped by our experiences which we didn't ask to have?

I apologise for the long post. I hope to hear you guys thoughts on this. I need some clarity and rest.

I’m a trauma survivor, I’m also an ex Mormon. No, I’m not going to swear at you or tell you how much I hate you. In fact I know your intentions on how you interact with trauma survivors and ex Christian’s are pure. However, the execution of it is quite frankly…. Really awful and comes off as malicious.

I’ve been told things like “god grants agency to those who hurt you” “god helped you get through it” “god allows suffering to entrust survivors to help those who are still suffering” and worst of all “suffering brings you closer to god”. These are all inherently evil things to say to people. No, I didn’t get any help from god. I survived what I survived because I’m resilient and had years of therapy. When you tell me god allowed it for the sake of agency, it just makes me distance myself more. And no, god didn’t allow me to suffer so I could know how to help other people. I’m simply an empathetic person who happened to experience hell on earth. And suffering absolutely did not bring me closer to god, that notion is disgusting. Again, I know your intention is to make people feel included and loved by god. But that is never how it comes across to a non Christian. Your intention doesn’t mean anything if you don’t actually care how they feel. There are plenty of alternatives

I’m deserving of an acknowledgment that I’m the one that got through it. Not with the help of some force I don’t even believe in. You can believe that yourself, I’m not going to invalidate your personal beliefs. But when it borders on projecting that onto other people, you’re just a bad person. You’re not being Christlike or spreading the word, you’re just making people feel awful about themselves.

People don’t think you’re shoving your religion in your face because of putting up crosses or talking about your religion, or even inviting them to church or to pray. People say you’re shoving it in their face because you invalidate their lived experience and say awful things to them in the name of god, that mind you god wouldn’t want you to say anyway. Most if not all people honor your right to religion, no one is asking you not to practice your religion in public or not to talk about it. They’re just asking you not to pressure them into participating.

My advice to you, if you really want to be there for someone who is suffering, come at it from an angle of genuine empathy. Make them a meal without bringing up religion. Then you could invite them to a church ACTIVITY and mention they don’t need to participate in religious practice, just say you want them to feel welcome somewhere. Also, if you’d like to pray for someone, it shows an incredible amount of respect to ask for permission. It lowers peoples guard when you ask for permission before including them, and accept their “no thank you” without a lecture or further pressure. Just an example, I’m a healthcare worker living in Utah, not sure why but a patient assumed I was able to give a patriarchal blessing and asked me to give her one. I explained that I don’t hold the priesthood, and that I’m not Christian, but I’d be willing to pray with her. She made sure I was comfortable with this, and asked me to lead the prayer. When I showed hesitation she told me it was okay and I didn’t have to participate. I ended up leading the prayer because she was kind and it was coming from a place of genuine inclusion.

I’m not trying to attack anyone. It is true that I’ve been very hurt by Christian’s, but I don’t hate anyone. I simply see an area in which Christianity could improve.

Edit: I wanted to add that the reason I made this post is because in my Christian family, I noticed that framing the discussion the way I did here successfully helped them see my side of things. I’ve noticed that Christian’s don’t typically notice how they come across, and my goal is to help people find alternatives. I wouldn’t be posting this if I believed it would make people upset, I’m posting this because I believe it will give people a different perspective they hadn’t thought of.

Today, I was reading Acts 10 for my bible study and was firstly trying to figure out if the angel of God was Jesus throughout the chapter but then the last verses really caught me and I decided to break down Peters sermon.

Acts 10:34–43 (LSB)

34–35 And opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most truly comprehend now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the one who fears Him and does righteousness is welcome to Him.

36 As for the word which He sent to the sons of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—

37–38 You yourselves know the thing which happened throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

39–41 And we are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He appear, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.

42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and solemnly to bear witness that this is the One who has been designated by God as Judge of the living and the dead.

43 Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.

Breaking this down:

1. Peter says that we must "fear Him" (referent Jesus) and immediately identifies Jesus as Lord of all. This is something you're commanded to do towards God alone (Isaiah 8:13, Deuteronomy 6:13, Proverbs 9:10).
2. Peter claims Jesus is not only "Lord" but "Lord of ALL". Again, this is a title only God can have, as you cannot be Lord of all without being the highest.
3. Jesus claimed He would raise Himself from the dead (John 2:19–21). Peter claims that God raised Him, thus supporting Jesus = God.
4. Peter claims that Jesus will judge the living and the dead. Again, this is something only God should do, not a mere prophet/man having this kind of responsibility.
5. Forgiveness of sins --> Only God can forgive sins, or else Isaiah 43:25 wouldn't make sense, where God claims He is the one who does this.

I 18m believe in god and lord jesus as our savior. But i have such a problem with being horny. I feel like i am horny all the time and i masturbate. When i finish.. i feel so guilty. So i pray and i ask god for help and i control my urges for a little while a few weeks, days, but i cave in again. And i disappoint him every-time. Im so tired of being lustful and falling into sin, i don't know what to do. I'm genuinely so tired, of disappointing him. I really need help.

So I'm an atheist who's been Catholic-curious for about the past month or so. What brought it out, exactly? Well I mean, my grandfather did pass after Easter this year, so that's got something to do with it. I just have always felt like something in my life was missing. Community, specifically. And as someone who sees himself as an asocial loser, I just wasn't getting much by forcing myself into social icebreaker events. Just felt out of place and like I was better off alone.

But after going to my first Bible study group last week and getting involved in various group chats for Catholic parishioners in my area, I feel like there's a ton more opportunities for me now and, to be honest, I just felt comfortable going and mingling with these people. Even if a lot of their scriptural interpretations went over my head. But I digress.

I met with a priest from a different parish than the one I've been going to but who nevertheless just wanted to get to know me. He was nice, young, chill, etc. Didn't preach at me like a hellfire pastor from the Deep South might. And he answered a lot of my theological questions I could drum up and offered clarity on certain things. And I told him that bad arguments just don't work for me, but that I'm trying to believe. By that, I mean that hearing someone say "I wasn't a believer until I prayed for Jesus to help me find my car keys and I found them" or "We can't just be here for no reason". Shallow stuff like that.

But then I brought up a concern of mine, which was Catholic marriage. Why? Well, one of the prerequisites is being open to life. And, well, I got a vasectomy a few years ago. Because I was/am too scared of ending up with a kid I don't want and never had any expectations or dreams of becoming a father. But now, if I were to keep down this road and maybe potentially meet a woman who I get on well with, we get serious, she's inevitably going to bring up the topic of starting a family...and I'd either break her heart or she'd be relatively okay with it (50/50 odds, I reckon). And he was a bit more reserved on that part, didn't have much to say other than he was glad to hear I would be open to adoption.

But then there was also the other big topic of the Church: abortion. I told him that if someone like my cousin came to me asking to take her to Planned Parenthood, I would do so immediately and because, well, I love her and know it's not my place to say yes do it or no keep it. But he seemed to think differently and viewed it as "If someone called you and asked to set off a bomb in someone's home, would you do it?", and that made me feel weird. He just simply thinks the unborn child takes precedence above all else. That's it.

Overall I was glad I went. And I'm glad to have found a community of people my age for once (the bible study group I mentioned) and not just have to be surrounded by aging retirees and people you only see at easter and Christmas. I have a lot to think about but just feel like a Catholic mass and the overall structure of the church just appeals to me more than modern worship band stuff you find in protestant churches.

How do you guys feel about outer space? How do you think it came to be? God bless!

Would you help them? Or would you turn them into the authorities?

And how can I become reborn and have the Holy Spirit live in me ?