A School for Beginners

James Martin, SJ has been around for quite some time. I first became familiar with him through his 2006 book My Life with the Saints . Given where I was in my faith life, it was a decent resource that helped me to grow. When A Jesuit Guide to Nearly Everything came out in 2010, I was all over it. I hungered for the guidance I wasn’t getting from my own father. Thankfully, despite the spiritual fog I lived in for most of my life, God gave me a sense for what is authentic Catholic teaching. I also listened to Women of Grace on EWTN; they helped to solidify me against the lies of New Age spirituality. When I read Martin’s chapter on centering prayer, I knew something was up. I knew something wasn’t quite right. I decided then and there to put James Martin aside in favor of more orthodox teachers. I turned to Teresa of Avila. I turned to John of the Cross. I turned to Aquinas and Augustine. I searched for tried and true teachers in order to find solid ground. I largely...

To a certain extent, this is a continuation of a series. It started with sharing my frustration with Pope Francis’s defenders. It continued with sharing why and how I parted with a friend over that post. Now I put forth a defense of Dr. Taylor Marshall and the great work he is doing. Pope Francis’s ardent defenders, including my friend, reject Marshall and others like him. My friend listened to him and then stopped when he started questioning Francis. I didn’t get introduced to him until a couple months ago. Needless to say, my view of him is radically different. As I have mentioned previously, I was a Pope Francis defender. I rejected any criticism of him. I stopped following news outlets such as LifeSite because I perceived their tone as too negative. I bought into the narrative that we should give the supreme pontiff the benefit of the doubt no matter what. Yet over time, I started noticing a pattern from Pope Francis. There were things he did and said that I had...