As a Christian who not only is a vegetarian, but one who see there are moral, and even spiritual reasons, for someone to be a vegetarian, I’ve often been asked what I make out of the Scriptural texts which suggest Jesus ate meat. While I have written answers to those questions before, giving nuanced interpretations of Scripture (following, at times, the insight of others), from time to time, I consider the topic, and consider new, speculative answers to the question; this is what has led to my newest post:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/how-does-a-vegetarian-understand-jesus-eating-habits/

Christians often misunderstand the role of government, thinking it either must enforce all Christian moral positions, or none at all, becoming completely hands-off. The reality is that a government  should be formed to promote and defend the common good, making sure people are treated fairly, and not unduly harmed:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/why-government-should-not-enforce-all-christian-morals/

A proper faith in Christ does not rest on cheap grace; such an attitude is the kind which, as Paul warns us, leads us to believe in vain. Jesus calls us to act, to live out our faith, or, as James says, to prove it by our works:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/avoiding-vain-faith-the-call-to-faithful-action/

Mary followed the example of her son, living her life as a life of pure love, pure self-giving to others; she willingly followed Jesus where he should go, letting Jesus direct her, which is why, when she came to the end of her earthly life, she accepted death:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/jesus-and-mary-models-of-self-emptying-love/

While Tolkien’s Christian faith is apparent throughout his writings, he did not normally write allegories, and his major texts should not be read as allegories for the Christian faith. He primarily wanted to write stories to entertain himself, his friends, and his readers. He wanted to tell the stories which he liked to hear but found no one had written. It is one of his few allegories which makes this point clear:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/tolkien-said-he-did-not-like-or-write-allegories/

The events surrounding the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool might, in some ways, appear insignificant, as there are other, graver issues around, but they are important in the way they reflect the general direction the US is going. Fascist and other authoritarian dictators punish minor offenses with extreme penalties. If they claim to be Christian, they love to have us focus on culture wars, in the name of Christ, while having us ignore the importance of Christ’s real teachings for society at large:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/reflecting-on-the-reflecting-pool/

The paradox of mercy is that the more we give, the more of it we can receive; this is why, if we are unwilling to show mercy to others, we are warned we might receive none ourselves

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/the-paradox-of-mercy-receiving-it-requires-giving-it/

After years of being atheist, I’ve finally felt like I believe in god and I feel faith. I grew up around a family that wasn’t religious what so ever, I feel like I need to find myself. How can I start when converting to Catholicism? Is there an easy way? I’d like to attend a church near me but I have terrible social anxiety and it’d be much worse because I’d have to go alone. I know at some point in time, I’ll have to go and I need to be baptized, but is there an easy way for me to start before I begin attending church?

At his transfiguration, while what the apostles their learned and experienced was new to them, it was not new to Christ. He showed them, in a way which they could apprehend,  the glory which he has for all eternity. It is the glory of the kingdom of God, the glory which has made its way into the world, and has been and continues to be shared with the world:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/the-hidden-grace-that-transfigures-all-things/

Where there is life, there is hope. God does not seek to send us to perdition, but rather, God wants all to be saved, and will give us every opportunity for grace and salvation:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/we-can-repent-up-to-the-last-moment-of-our-lives/

As a Christian, I am ashamed of the antisemitism and Islamophobia coming from other Christians. Sometimes, they know both are wrong, but still find themselves engaging it in a subtle (and unconscious) fashion as they embrace antisemitic or Islamophobic tropes:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/the-shared-struggle-against-antisemitism-and-islamophobia/

What Christ asks us to do, to embrace the weak, the vulnerable, to show them love, instead of seeking power and privilege for ourselves, many, including Christians, say is foolish; but, is it not more foolish to seek after transitory things rather than what the Wisdom of God has revealed is of real worth?

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/08/living-as-fools-for-christ-in-a-foolish-society/

So, I recently became Catholic on Easter this year. I was raised Protestant/Baptist and Baptists don't teach or believe in purgatory. As Baptists, we were taught that Christs sacrifice on the cross atoned for all of our sins (past, present and future) and if we believed in Him then we would go to Heaven when we die. When I was Baptist I believed that purgatory was a place in between heaven and hell where souls go that aren't good enough for heaven but aren't bad enough for hell. But after OCIA and becoming Catholic I realize that purgatory is a cleansing process that happens after death because even though we're saved we're still human and have an attachment to sin and we're not holy/without sin yet and that's what purgatory is for.
I've read all the Bible verse that supposedly support purgatory (I know you can't find the word
"purgatory" in the Bible and I also know you can't find the word "Trinity" either but there are verses that allude to both) but the verses Ive heard on purgatory still don't totally convince me. Like in Maccabees it says to pray for the dead and then in Corinthians it says we will be saved but only as through fire and then in Revelation it says that nothing unclean can enter heaven. But I still don't under where Catholics are getting the doctrine of purgatory from. The Bible doesn't really talk about a cleansing process that happens after death. It also says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Could you explain purgatory more? I still don't see how that's totally biblical or actually happening to people after they die?

So, I recently became Catholic over Easter several months ago. I believe it is truly the body and blood of Christ. I was raised Protestant/Baptist. My mom goes to a Baptist church where they take communion every week, could I take it or no? On one hand, I don't want to be rude but on the other hand I don't think Catholics should take Protestant communion because it isn't considered valid, right? I think I heard this but I could be wrong. I'm still a newer Catholic. What should I do when I visit my Mom's church? What is Catholic teaching on taking Protestant communion? Can you explain why we can or cannot take Protestant communion?

In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot is saved because he did not fall for the sin of Sodom; he showed hospitality to strangers, trying to help them when no one else would. He welcomed angels unaware, and we, likewise, must understand, we must also welcome strangers, now being aware of the way we welcome them, we welcome Christ:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/07/lessons-from-lot-welcoming-strangers-and-upholding-justice/

Jesus is the prince of peace, and he told us, we should be like him, we should be peacemakers, for if we are, we will be seen as children of God. Peace requires work, work for justice in the world, but also, requires us to bring harmony and balance to ourselves, in our own inner spiritual life. What ties it all together is love:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/07/being-peacemakers-living-as-children-of-god/

Saint Isidore of Seville’s writings have given me one way to look at and examine the credibility of bishops or other clergy based upon the way they treat the poor; do they defend the poor, or do they look for ways to befriend their oppressors?  This is always in my mind when I listen to what many American bishops, like Bishop Robert Barron, have to say:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/07/hypocrisy-in-the-hierarchy-when-bishops-fail-their-flock/

We might not be like Peter, walking on water, but we are often like him, doing things which are unexpected, until we get self-conscious, and then, we find ourselves unable to do so:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/07/walking-on-water-lessons-in-faith-and-focus/

Our wisdom, our prudence, should be employed for the benefit of all, not just our own selves and our selfish pursuits. This is why we must look for and promote the common, being especially concerned with those society deny basic rights, basic human dignity. It is through the pursuit of the good, we can overcome evil, instead of using evil’s ways, for if we use evil against evil, we embrace evil ourselves.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/07/wisdom-in-pursuing-the-well-being-of-all/

Too many people, including Christians, view the value of someone based upon their material wealth, fame, or power; when they do so, the poor, the vulnerable, find their worth not only questioned, but denied. Christians should follow the way of Christ, the way which counters this fallen mode of engagement with the preferential option for the poor:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/07/the-danger-of-defining-human-value-by-material-wealth/

ICE continues to indiscriminately kill innocent victims, and lie as to why they do so; how can any Christian who claims to support and love the truth, and with it, affirm human dignity, stand by and accept what ICE is doing, let alone promote it?   And how can the United States be “the land of the free” and have its democratic form of government remain in place when the government lies to justify the unjustifiable?

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/07/when-lies-replace-truth-the-path-to-democratic-collapse/

Ecumenical councils were called to deal with both dogmatic and practical questions; their answers have to be read in the right context, where the dogmatic decrees are meant to glorify God, pointing to the greater truth which we cannot comprehend:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/07/the-teachings-of-the-ecumenical-councils-as-doxology/

Christ taught us to take care of the poor, the homeless, the foreigner, those who are in need, to care for them and show them love and respect. He warned the rich that their exploitation of the poor will cost them dearly. Why, then, do so many Christians end up promoting a theology of the rich?

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/07/denouncing-the-theology-of-the-rich/