Beards

The Catholic Encyclopedia is a great resource for a solid Catholic explanation of a number of topics (and it is available for free at: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen). Written over a century ago, it provides an easy way to look up certain subjects; everything from Aachen to Zwirner, and a lot in between.

As I was looking something up in the Encyclopedia the other day, I came across an article titled "Beard". Yes, you got that right. It was very short (one paragraph) but it was about beards. Of course, it was information about beards from over one hundred years ago, but not much has changed (except habits and fashions). The fact that I, myself, have had a beard for thirty four years now had no bearing on my interest.

Yet, it is not beards (per se) that I got to thinking about. It was the fact that the Church has been around for two thousand years, and it has something to say about just about every topic imaginable. This is so encouraging in more ways that I can explain. It means we do not have to re-invent the wheel every generation (there are a number of non-catholic sects that already do that).

It also means that there are times when someone who is not Catholic will ask a question, and I can answer "well, actually, the Church already has an answer for that". What a joy to know that we are the recipients of generations of those who were led by the Holy Ghost. What a joy to know that we have the deposit of faith from our forefathers. What a joy to know that (in spite of the way it may seem lately) the Church is growing, learning, and being purified by Christ every day (cf. Ephesians 4:15-16 & 5:25-27).