Fr. Timothy Matkin

Over the past several weeks, Carrie Prejean Boller has complained that she was removed from the Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty because of her Catholic beliefs, and she has called out myself and other Catholic members of the commission for not defending her. This is absurd. Mrs. Prejean Boller was not dismissed for her religious convictions but rather for her behavior at a gathering of the Commission last month: browbeating witnesses, aggressively asserting her point of view, hijacking the meeting for her own political purposes. The Catholic position on matters of “Zionism,” to which I fully subscribe, is as follows: all forms of antisemitism are to be unequivocally condemned; the state of Israel has a right to exist; but the modern nation of Israel does not represent the fulfillment of Biblical prophecies and hence does not stand beyond criticism. If Mrs. Prejean Boller were dismissed for holding these beliefs, it is difficult to understand why I am still a member of the Commission. To paint herself as a victim of anti-Catholic prejudice or to claim that her religious liberty has been denied is simply preposterous.

God commanded Moses to make golden statues. That's not my opinion. That's Exodus 25:18-22. If the Second Commandment prohibits all religious images, then God violated His own commandment. And that's a theological impossibility. Let me be clear. The concern about idolatry is sincere and good. Every faithful Catholic shares it. Worshiping a created thing as if it were God is a grave sin. Always has been. Always will be. But there is a difference between worshiping an image AS a god and using sacred art to honor the God who made all beauty. And Scripture makes this distinction repeatedly. Consider the evidence God Himself left us. Exodus 25:18-22. God gives Moses exact instructions for the Ark of the Covenant. "Make two cherubim of gold, of hammered work shall you make them, at the two ends of the mercy seat." These weren't abstract shapes. They were carved images of angelic beings, placed in the holiest object in Israel, in the inner sanctuary where God's presence dwelled. Golden religious images. Commanded by God. In the holiest place on earth. 1 Kings 6:23-29. Solomon builds the Temple under God's guidance. The interior is filled with carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. The two great cherubim in the inner sanctuary stood ten cubits high, their wings spanning the entire room. Verse 29 says the walls were carved "all around" with these images. God's own Temple was covered in religious artwork. Floor to ceiling. Numbers 21:8-9. God commands Moses to make a bronze serpent and raise it on a pole so that anyone bitten by a snake could look upon it and live. A religious image. Made at God's command. Used as an instrument of divine healing. Notice what happened later. In 2 Kings 18:4, King Hezekiah destroyed that same bronze serpent. Why? Because the Israelites had begun burning incense TO it. They turned a sacred image into an object of worship. That was the sin. Not the image itself, but treating a created thing as a deity. This is exactly the distinction the Second Commandment makes. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image... you shall not bow down to them or serve them" (Exodus 20:4-5). The prohibition is against making images to worship them AS gods. Not against all sacred art. If it meant all images, God contradicted Himself three chapters later. The earliest Christians understood this perfectly. The house church at Dura-Europos in Syria, dating to roughly 235 AD, contains painted walls depicting biblical scenes. Christ healing the paralytic. The woman at the well. David and Goliath. This is one of the oldest Christian worship spaces ever discovered, and it is decorated with religious images. The Roman catacombs from the second and third centuries are filled with Christian art. Images of Christ as the Good Shepherd. Depictions of Jonah, Daniel, and the three young men in the furnace. The earliest Christians who learned the faith from the Apostles' own disciples saw no contradiction between the Second Commandment and sacred images. No Catholic who understands the faith worships a statue. We do not believe the plaster or marble or wood contains divinity. A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary is like a photograph of your mother. You don't love the paper. You love the person it represents. And the honor given to the image passes to the one it depicts. St. John of Damascus put it with precision in the eighth century. "I do not worship matter. I worship the Creator of matter, who became matter for my sake." God Himself filled His Temple with images. The earliest Christians filled their churches with images. The burden of proof falls on those who claim this universal Christian practice was always wrong. Where did your tradition's rejection of sacred images actually originate? And how do you account for Exodus 25?

My daughter's school is doing its annual fundraiser on April 10. If you can sponsor her or throw in a few bucks, I'd really appreciate it. The Saint Timothy School in Dallas is a classical Anglican school worthy of your support. Have a look at her video. youtu.be/0zZHFLrH3Go?si…

Here’s the first of the six Precepts of the Church, well worth recovering: to be united with Jesus and the community of the Church on the day of His resurrection through the sacrifice of the Mass and the six holy days of obligation here in the United States. @thegnewsroom

Glad she showed up and voted against.

As of my reposting, all the comments on the post point out that Mullaly is conveniently avoiding voting on legalizing abortion up to the time of birth in the House of Lords, abandoning her Christian responsibility.

@GigaBasedDad Currently an Anglican priest (ACNA). Raised as a Southern Baptist.

Let's have fun here What Christian denomination are you right now? Under what Christian denomination were you raised? Curious to see the results

@williamofdallas Quite lovely

Limestone County, TX

For the sake of England, the king needs to rule.

In his coronation, King Charles III took an oath 'to the utmost of my power to maintain the Laws of God' in the United Kingdom. He needs to refuse Royal Assent to abortion-to-birth. If he does not, he will have broken his coronation oath and acted against our constitution.

@NovusOrdoWatch In fairness, she argued and voted against it, not for it.

The new 'Archbishop' of Canterbury, ecumenical dialogue partner with the Vatican.

"The silence of St. Joseph is the perfect silence of a man who listens intently to the voice of God and who lives in perfect harmony with the divine will." Pope Benedict XVI

Happy Father's Day! S. Joseph, pray for us.

@complicitclergy They just did. youtu.be/vfAIVBdgo0U?si…

So-Called Conservative Bishops Can’t Seen To Find The Courage To Defend Church Teaching On Israel complicitclergy.com/2026/03/18/so-…

Well said. youtu.be/vfAIVBdgo0U?si…

The Vatican has called for an end to surrogacy worldwide, saying that it risks reducing children to “commodified products” and women to “service providers”. churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2026/…

𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗗🇻🇦 (A Lenten Examination of Conscience) 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝: Abortion Adultery All use of illegal drugs Any dealing with the occult (i.e., Ouija boards, etc.) Artificial birth control Blasphemy: disrespect toward God or toward His Holy Name Breaking promises deliberately Bringing dishonor to family, school, community or the Church Calumny: telling lies about another Despair: to believe that God will refuse to forgive you Destruction of other persons’ property Detraction: telling an unkind truth about another Disobedience toward parents/teachers Drunkenness, including any drinking under the age of 21 Excessive materialism Gluttony: eating or drinking to excess Gossip: talking about others Hatred Homosexual actions Impure thoughts Indifference to good or evil Ingratitude Intentional violation of school rules Jealousy Laziness Lying Malice: the deliberate choice of evil Masturbation: impure actions with yourself Missing Mass on any Sunday or Holyday Murder 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗗𝗔𝗬 Not giving to the poor and the Church Premarital sex, including oral sex, intercourse, impure touching of another Presumption: sinning and saying God MUST forgive me Pride Prostitution Reckless driving that endangers you, passengers or others Rudeness Selfishness Stealing Superstition Unjustified anger Using others for your own personal gain Watching or looking at pornographic materials ✝️ 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Lent is a sacred season given by God for the conversion of our souls. It is not enough to pray and fast externally, we must also examine our conscience sincerely and recognize the sins that separate us from God. Many of these sins have become common and even accepted in the world today. Yet, according to the teachings of the Church, especially as explained in the Baltimore Catechism, sin is an offense against God, who is infinitely good and worthy of all our love. We must not fall into despair, thinking God will not forgive us, nor into presumption, thinking we can sin without consequence. Both are dangerous for the soul. The Sacrament of Confession is a great mercy given by Our Lord. No matter how grave our sins may be, if we confess them with true contrition, God forgives and restores our soul to grace. Let this Lent be the time we return fully to God, not tomorrow, not later, but now. 🙏 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen Give me the grace to make a sincere confession, to amend my life, and to avoid the occasions of sin. Strengthen me to carry my cross and follow Thee faithfully. Amen. 𝙍𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙍𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙂𝙤𝙙. ✝️

I feel sick to my stomach and can’t sleep. Satan has captured our nation. We have an evil, dishonest government in which the Prime Minister cannot tell the truth or answer questions at the dispatch box. The same PM is in love with a religion that seeks to subjugate our nation, whose followers have caused terrorism and raped our girls and women. On Wednesday night, the House of Lords committed a grievous sin by allowing infanticide. The Bishops are weak and inadequate. The King is absent. God have mercy on us all; judgment is coming. “If you harm one of these little ones of mine, it is better that a millstone be hung around your neck and you be cast into the depths of the sea” (Jesus Christ).

💔BREAKING: On a sad & shameful day for our nation, the House of Lords has just voted to allow abortion UP TO BIRTH to be introduced into law. This extreme proposal will endanger women & threaten the lives of viable unborn babies.🧵1/

The Church is true Israel because Christ, THE SEED of Abraham, is the Head of the Church, which is the Body of Christ. The Church did not “replace” Israel. The Church is Israel by being grafter in to the sacred vine, the same vine from which dead branches have fallen away.