Nathaniel Hunter

Dec 16, 2024 | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter

Micah 5:1 – 4aPsalms 80:2 – 3, 15 – 16, 18 – 19. Hebrews 10:5 – 10Luke 1:39 – 45When I was a young teenager, I used to lie awake worrying that God would ask me to carry the next savior. I had learned about Mary, a young girl engaged to be married and then impregnated by the Holy Spirit. She was just a normal teenager—like me. And it didn’t seem like she had much choice in her marriage to Joseph, her pregnancy with Jesus, how she gave birth, or really much of anything in her life.

May 13, 2024 | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Michelle Arnold

The church can take a long time to approve a Marian apparition. In 2010, when Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, announced the apparitions given to Adele Brise in 1859 were “worthy of belief,” it capped a process that took 150 years to complete. The earliest approved Marian apparition occurred during Mary’s lifetime, to St. James the Great while he was on a missionary trip in Spain. In this vision, Mary encouraged James to return to Jerusalem.

Mar 18, 2024 | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Grace Kim

Mk 11:1-10Is 50:4-7Psalms 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24Phil 2:6-11Mk 14:1—15:47I have dreamed of visiting Israel and Palestine since I was a seminary student in the 1990s. But due to various reasons I was unable to visit until Fall of 2023. When I finally went to visit Jerusalem, I was excited to see the Mount of Olives and other sites throughout the holy land. During my visit, while I was traveling in Nazareth, I fell and broke my kneecap.

Mar 18, 2024 | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Joshua Stein

Jewish identity is complicated, involving overlapping religious, cultural, and ethnic groups. But the practice of Judaism rules out actual endorsement of another religion, especially given the history of forced conversions. So what do Jews believe about Jesus? Essentially, you can’t practice Judaism and believe that Jesus is the Jewish messiah. Jewish religious texts and rabbinic scholarship both discuss the idea of the Moshiach, or messiah.

Feb 26, 2024 | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |David Pitt

If I hurt someone I care about, I should admit what I have done and apologize and usually shouldn’t need anybody else there as a mediator. So why do Catholics have to confess their sins, offenses against God, to a priest? Why not confess directly to God? No one can forgive on someone else’s behalf. But we can reassure people that they have been forgiven. Because sins are offenses against God, only God can forgive sin.