Thursday 21st February 2019

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Suffering An Offense Is Better Than Committing One

June 16, 2014 Featured Today Comments Off on Suffering An Offense Is Better Than Committing One

By DONALD DeMARCO In the Act of Contrition we acknowledge twice that we have offended God. God is all good and deserving of all our love. Offenses against Him, therefore, are offenses against love. We are commanded to love God and neighbor. When we fail in this regard, we confess our having offended God, primarily, and neighbor, secondarily. Christianity understands the meaning of being offensive in the proper perspective. Love is pro-active; sin, as a refusal to love, offends both God and man. Society needs a moral framework. Otherwise, it sinks into chaos. But a moral framework without any reference to God gives man a centrality that he does not deserve. Thus, the notion of being offensive is now understood…Continue Reading

Looking For An Honest Man

June 15, 2014 Featured Today Comments Off on Looking For An Honest Man

By FR. MARVIN DEUTSCH, MM (Editor’s Note: Fr. Marvin Deutsch, a Maryknoll priest, is a retired missionary who spent many years in Tanzania.) +    +    + Not too long ago I read in The Wall Street Journal that inflation wasn’t quite as high as the Feds wanted it because it was less than the two percent that was needed to counteract all the money the Feds are printing. The article said that food and fuel are not counted when measuring inflation. My reaction was (and still is) — hey, that’s where most of the average person’s money goes. Why isn’t this being included in an honest appraisal? Another area where there is a lack of honesty: We now have the…Continue Reading

A Book Review… The Limits Of Psychiatry

June 14, 2014 Featured Today Comments Off on A Book Review… The Limits Of Psychiatry

By DONAL FOLEY Donal Anthony Foley reviews Catholicism and Mental Health, by Dr. Pravin Thevathasan (Catholic Truth Society, May 2014, 72 pages, www.ctsbooks.org/, c. $4.25 plus shipping). This very informative booklet, by a practicing psychiatrist, comprises chapters covering, amongst other things, the general relationship between Catholicism and psychiatry; when and how they conflict; when and how they agree, and how Catholics should view the theories of Freud and Jung. It also examines some common psychiatric disorders, and particularly depression, which is the commonest mental health issue. The aim of the author is to show that there shouldn’t be any real conflict between Catholicism and psychiatry — but this booklet is not meant to be a self-help guide. Dr. Thevathasan begins…Continue Reading

The Scientific Case Against Homosexual “Marriage”

June 13, 2014 Featured Today Comments Off on The Scientific Case Against Homosexual “Marriage”

By BRIAN CLOWES Part 4 (Editor’s Note: Brian Clowes has been director of research and training at Human Life International since 1995. For a footnoted copy of this four-part article, e-mail him at bclowes@hli.org.) +    +    + So far, we have debunked six of the most popular media myths regarding homosexual “marriage.” The last three myths concern religion and race, and are not difficult to dispose of quickly and decisively. Myth #7: “If You Oppose Us, You Hate Us.” Homophile propagandist Dan Savage likes to say that “loving Jesus means hating gay people.” This is simplistic nonsense and is easy to refute. Let’s be clear about what this issue is and is not about. It is not about whether people…Continue Reading

The Moral Revolution In Sports

June 12, 2014 Featured Today Comments Off on The Moral Revolution In Sports

By DONALD DeMARCO Professional sports and morality were born twins. In baseball, the “foul pole” and the presence of umpires attest to this. The game must be played fairly and fairness is consonant with the cardinal virtue of justice. Consequently, when eight members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox baseball team were convicted of throwing the World Series, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first commissioner of baseball, banned them for life. Nothing damages the credibility of sports more than cheating. Performance-enhancing drugs violate the integrity of the game and cannot be tolerated. The rules of sport are sacrosanct. Nonetheless, while cheating has never been condoned in sports, other vices have been allowed to flourish without fines or suspensions. Adultery, cursing, greed,…Continue Reading

War Hero Or Deserter?

June 11, 2014 Featured Today Comments Off on War Hero Or Deserter?

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN “We needed to get him out of there, essentially to save his life.” So said Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, an Army sergeant in Vietnam, of Barack Obama’s trade of five hard-core Taliban leaders at Guantanamo for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, a Taliban prisoner for five years. The trade speaks well of America’s resolve to leave no soldier behind. And the country surely shared the joy of Bergdahl’s family on learning their son was alive and coming home. But this secret swap, as well as the circumstances of Bergdahl’s capture and captivity, is likely to further polarize our people and poison our politics. First, the price the Taliban extorted from us is high. We could be seeing…Continue Reading

Neither Left Nor Right, But Catholic… The Foolish Calculations Of Politics: Gov. Corbett’s Decision

June 10, 2014 Featured Today Comments Off on Neither Left Nor Right, But Catholic… The Foolish Calculations Of Politics: Gov. Corbett’s Decision

By STEPHEN M. KRASON (Editor’s Note: Stephen M. Krason’s “Neither Left nor Right, but Catholic” column appears monthly [sometimes bimonthly] in Crisis. He is professor of political science and legal studies and associate director of the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at Franciscan University of Steubenville. He is also co-founder and president of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists. He is the author of several books including The Transformation of the American Democratic Republic [Transaction Publishers: 2012], and most recently published an edited volume entitled Child Abuse, Family Rights, and the Child Protective System [Scarecrow Press: 2013]. This column originally appeared in Crisismagazine.com. All rights reserved.) +    +    + In late May, Gov. Tom Corbett of my home…Continue Reading

Will Obama Save Meriam Ibrahim And Her Babies?

June 9, 2014 Featured Today Comments Off on Will Obama Save Meriam Ibrahim And Her Babies?

By TERENCE P. JEFFREY (Editor’s Note: Terence P. Jeffrey is the editor in chief of CNSnews.com. To find out more about him, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com. All rights reserved.) +    +    + As of this writing, Meriam Ibrahim sits shackled in the cell in the Omdurman Federal Women’s Prison in Sudan that she shares with her two babies, Martin and Maya. This is the family of an American citizen — being persecuted for their Christian faith by a foreign government. How did they end up in a Sudanese prison? Meriam’s husband is Daniel Wani, a naturalized U.S. citizen, who, according to the Manchester Union Leader, moved from Sudan to New Hampshire in 1998. He was naturalized…Continue Reading

Eternal Flame In Minsk . . . Orthodox-Catholic Forum Seeks Unity In Fighting Secularism

June 8, 2014 Featured Today Comments Off on Eternal Flame In Minsk . . . Orthodox-Catholic Forum Seeks Unity In Fighting Secularism

By ROBERT MOYNIHAN (Editor’s Note: Robert Moynihan is founder and editor-in-chief of Inside the Vatican magazine. This story first appeared in The Moynihan Report [TheMoynihanReport.com]. It is reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. Dr. Moynihan holds a Ph.D. in medieval studies from Yale.) +    +    + “The forum aims to consolidate Christian powers of Europe, first of all, Catholic and Orthodox communities. It will help find a way out from the deep moral and social-political crisis which is growing worse because of the indifference to spiritual aspects of the human nature and society” — Russian Orthodox Archpriest Fyodor Povnyi, superior of the All Saints Memorial Church in Minsk, Belarus, explaining the purpose of the opening in his church of the…Continue Reading

Reconnecting With Mary . . . Devotion To The Sacred Heart: The Role Of The Popes

June 7, 2014 Featured Today Comments Off on Reconnecting With Mary . . . Devotion To The Sacred Heart: The Role Of The Popes

By DONAL FOLEY Part 3 The final article in this series will look at the role of recent Popes in promoting devotion to the Sacred Heart, and it is particularly appropriate to look at this topic now, as June is traditionally seen as the month of the Sacred Heart. In his encyclical on reparation to the Sacred Heart, Miserentissimus Redemptor, published in 1928, Pope Pius XI said: “There is surely no reason for doubting, Venerable Brethren, that from this devotion piously established and commanded to the whole Church, many excellent benefits will flow forth, not only to individual men, but also to society, sacred, civil, and domestic, seeing that our Redeemer Himself promised to Margaret Mary that ‘all those who…Continue Reading