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Have Trust And Confidence

July 10, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Have Trust And Confidence

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fifteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR B) Readings: Amos 7:12-15 Eph. 1:3-14 Mark 6:7-13 In the Gospel reading today, we hear about our Lord sending out His apostles and instructing them to take nothing with them on their journey: no food, no money, no sack; just a walking stick. This requires a great amount of trust. We might say if we were sent out by Jesus Himself to do something, trust would be no problem. There are two points to understand about this: First, the apostles had not been with Him very long and did not yet have full faith in our Lord. Second, regarding ourselves, we have the Scriptures, the teachings of the Church, the…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World “No Catholics Need Apply”

July 9, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World “No Catholics Need Apply”

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Amy Coney Barrett — a practicing Catholic and a member of a charismatic group recognized by the Church called “People of Praise” — has ascended through the Seventh Circuit to consideration as a candidate to replace Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court. This has brought out the latent anti-Catholicism in our society. What once was disguised as anti-immigrant sentiment, expressed through signs that greeted newcomers to this land in stores and factories, “No Irish Need Apply,” is now openly brandished. Time has made clear that what in fact was distasteful more than their Irish blood was the “strange creed” they professed, demanding fidelity to a Bishop in Rome. The Catholic Church now stands nearly…Continue Reading

Martin Luther . . . The Man And The Myth

July 8, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Martin Luther . . . The Man And The Myth

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 1 (Editor’s Note: As this October marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Raymond de Souza is taking a break from his usual apologetics to correct the popular image of Luther.) + + + Why was a statue of Martin Luther erected — of all places — in the Vatican last year? It was to participate in the commemorations of a historic event: 500 years of the Lutheran “Reformation.” This year, Lutherans and Protestants of all denominations celebrate in Germany and elsewhere the historical beginning of their various churches. But why the Vatican should commemorate that man’s revolt against the Catholic…Continue Reading

Human Freedom In The Economy Of Salvation

July 7, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Human Freedom In The Economy Of Salvation

By DON FIER In last week’s reflection on the relationship between human freedom and responsibility, it was established that “freedom makes people responsible for their actions to the extent that they are voluntary” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 364). Implied by this statement is that “not all human actions are equally imputable,” explains Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ. “The two foci around which imputability revolves are knowledge and freedom; when both faculties are fully operative, the responsibility is complete, but when either is somehow inhibited, the resulting imputability is lessened” (The Catholic Catechism [TCC], p. 285). The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) lists several factors that can diminish or nullify responsibility for an action: “ignorance,…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

July 6, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: Since this column is dated the day after we celebrate the birthday of our nation, and it comes at a time when mention of God and freedom of religion is under attack in our country, it might be worth recalling how important God was to the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, who put their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor on the line 242 years ago. On no less than four occasions in that brief document did our Founders mention the role of God in their bold proclamation. In the first paragraph of the Declaration, the signers said that they were acting “to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station…Continue Reading

In Times Of Harsh Political Discourse… What Do The Scriptures Say?

July 4, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on In Times Of Harsh Political Discourse… What Do The Scriptures Say?

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: We reprint this essay by Msgr. Charles Pope from his blog of June 26 and we thank him for his kind permission. Msgr. Pope is past of Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian in Washington, D.C.) + + + We are in times of strident political protest that includes a lot of harsh language, personal attacks, name calling, and even debased and profane terms. There are tweets, and angry monologues, harsh commentary on news networks, and interruptive press conferences and news interviews that sound more like a brawl than a debate. To put it all more pleasantly, these are times of “colorful” discourse. What is the overall teaching of Scripture when it comes to this sort of…Continue Reading

Be Like The Prophets Of Old

July 3, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Be Like The Prophets Of Old

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fourteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR B) Readings: Ezek. 2:2-5 2 Cor. 12:7-10 Mark 6:1-6 One of the pieces of advice told to people that I hear over and over again is “God does not want you to suffer.” I suppose this can go along with the “Gospel of Health and Wealth,” which maintains that as long as you believe in Jesus you will be wealthy and have no suffering. In fact, these people tend to look at suffering as a punishment; you must have done something pretty bad to offend God and now He is allowing this suffering in your life. If this were the truth, one would think the apostles would have been preaching…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… The Gates Of Hell “Shall Not Prevail”

July 2, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… The Gates Of Hell “Shall Not Prevail”

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The gates of Hell are real and we have met them. The news came around the ides of June like a stab to the heart, like a bomb blast in the Church. The revelation was that Theodore Cardinal McCarrick had been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of a minor nearly fifty years ago when he was a priest in New York. Stunned Catholics who love the Church are sorely tried. With that also came the news of three cases of McCarrick’s relations with adults that had already been documented, two of them settled by payments to the complainants. Everyone in an equation of moral wrongdoing is in need of help. The perpetrator needs justice, the…Continue Reading

The Sacraments Instituted By Christ… The Examination Of Conscience

July 1, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Sacraments Instituted By Christ… The Examination Of Conscience

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 35 One thing is certain: A good Confession requires humility and courage. I knew a priest in Latin America who had a message for males when they went to Confession and hesitated about telling him everything. The priest would say to the penitent: “If you were man enough to sin, be a real man now and confess it!” There is nothing to be gained by confessing with euphemisms or roundabout expressions. We must tell it as it is, or tell them as they are, in plain language. Fact is, there is nothing new under the sun, the sins we have committed other people have committed before us, and will commit after we die. Moreover,…Continue Reading

Freedom And Responsibility

June 30, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Freedom And Responsibility

By DON FIER Early on in our consideration of the moral life, an entire column was devoted to the dignity of the human person, a reality “rooted in his creation in the image and likeness of God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], n. 1700). We saw that our dignity as rational beings is so great that the Vatican II Fathers unhesitatingly declared that man is “the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake” (Gaudium et Spes [GS], n. 24 § 3). As expressed in post-apostolic times by the second-century Church Father, bishop, and martyr St. Irenaeus of Lyons: “Man is rational and therefore like God; he is created with free will and is master…Continue Reading