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Cardinal Zen . . . “A Schismatic Church With The Pope’s Blessing Will Be Horrible!”

February 21, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Cardinal Zen . . . “A Schismatic Church With The Pope’s Blessing Will Be Horrible!”

By DIANE MONTAGNA ROME (LifeSiteNews) — Hong Kong’s Joseph Cardinal Zen issued another strongly worded criticism February 13 of the Vatican’s proposed deal with China’s Communist regime, suggesting it would amount to a papal endorsement of schism. “There is no reason to fear a schismatic church created by the [Communist] Party. It will fade with the collapse of the regime,” he wrote. “But a schismatic church with the Pope’s blessing will be horrible!” Cardinal Zen’s comments came in response to a recent interview with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin, published in the Italian daily La Stampa. Zen posted the commentary on his blog in both Chinese and Italian. Reading the interview “disgusts me,” the archbishop emeritus of Hong Kong…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… The “Inner Room” Of Lent

February 19, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… The “Inner Room” Of Lent

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK “Go to your inner room and pray to your Father in private.” Another Lent is upon us. With the Mass of Ash Wednesday we hear once again the Lord’s call to grow into a deeper awareness and love of the Father who is always lovingly aware of us. The tasks of Lent in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are an occasion to both imitate the Lord and to share more deeply in His relationship with the Father. Conversion spurred by penance and self-abnegation is the path to divine communion. Ash Wednesday, though celebrated also with Mass and imposition of ashes, is not first about works which others can see. It’s about sincerity and the necessity of…Continue Reading

The Sacraments Instituted By Christ . . . Delving Into The Great Mystery Of The Eucharist

February 18, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Sacraments Instituted By Christ . . . Delving Into The Great Mystery Of The Eucharist

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 16 The Holy Eucharist is the greatest Mystery left to our faith by Our Divine Redeemer. Thus, to delve into it is something we do on our knees, as it were, spiritually speaking, since we are considering the Presence of a Divine Person under the appearances of bread and wine. We have His word that it is true, and we believe Him. It happened in the Upper Room. When Christ said, “This is my Body. . . .This is my Blood,” what happened was that the substance of the bread and substance of the wine were changed into His Body and Blood. Of the bread and the wine, nothing remained but the accidents, that…Continue Reading

The Effects Of The Sacrament Of Matrimony

February 17, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Effects Of The Sacrament Of Matrimony

By DON FIER For a variety of reasons (a defect of consent, a diriment impediment, or a defect of the required form), many supposed modern-day marriages entered into by Catholic persons are invalid from their origin in the eyes of God and the Church. However, as we saw last week, depending on the circumstances, the Church has procedures by which these unions can be validated: simple convalidation and radical sanation. The New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law (NC-CCL) expertly summarizes these ecclesiastical procedures, which are codified in canons 1156-1165 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law (CIC): “[Simple convalidation] requires a renewal of consent by the parties; [radical sanation] is an intervention of Church authority that gives naturally…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

February 16, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. Concerning what our Blessed Mother said in Fatima about the rosary, I am confused as to whether or not she meant us to meditate on the mysteries while we are praying the Hail Marys or whether she meant us to meditate on the mysteries right before we say the Hail Marys. The consensus seems to be that we are supposed to meditate while we are praying, but doesn’t this cause us not to be able to concentrate on the words of the Hail Mary as much as we should? What exactly did our Blessed Mother say? — E.G., Florida. A. The Virgin Mary urged the three children in each of the six apparitions in 1917 to pray the rosary…Continue Reading

Abraham Had To Be Tested

February 15, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Abraham Had To Be Tested

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Second Sunday Of Lent Readings: Gen. 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18 Romans 8:31b-34 Mark 9:2-10 In the first reading today we hear about Abraham’s nearly incomprehensible act of faith and love for God shown in his willingness to sacrifice his own son. We have to be careful not to read this in a vacuum. This test, which is extreme, was given because of what Abraham was called to do but also because of his earlier failures in faith and obedience. A person who will impact many people will be tested and will suffer various purifications that are far greater than what most people will have to endure due to the number of people they will influence spiritually.…Continue Reading

Questioning Humanae Vitae?… The Vatican Has Already Had Its Say

February 14, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Questioning Humanae Vitae?… The Vatican Has Already Had Its Say

By ANDREA GAGLIARDUCCI (Wanderer Editor’s Note: Catholic News Agency on February 3 published a commentary concerning a 1989 Vatican response to dissent against Humanae Vitae. Below is an excerpted version of that commentary. Following that, we reprint the full text of the 1989 Vatican response, which, as the CNA commentary explains, is now available on the Vatican’s website. Please also see page 1 of this week’s issue, which features a recently translated 1987 speech by Pope John Paul II defending the encyclical.) + + + VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) — Since Blessed Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae was published 50 years ago, it has sparked wide-ranging debates, and frequent calls to change its teaching from some theologians. At the 50th…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Bishops Promote Sin “In Some Cases”

February 12, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Bishops Promote Sin “In Some Cases”

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK A joke sometimes recounted among clergy goes along these lines: Someone greets a wise old priest by asking, “What’s new?”, and he responds, sagely, “Christ is risen!” The humor here is less about what’s new than about the fact that everything, other than the only true revolution of Christ’s Incarnation and triumph over death, is old. Unfortunately the agenda among some Church leaders seems to be, not to further the good news of life in Christ made possible by His Resurrection but, rather, to undermine it. Those who would seek to lower standards to some minimal calculus do not offer anything new. There is a reason why the most ancient story about man and woman…Continue Reading

The Sacraments Instituted By Christ . . . Reaffirmations Of The Real Presence

February 11, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Sacraments Instituted By Christ . . . Reaffirmations Of The Real Presence

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 15 St. Thomas Aquinas coined this sentence of logic: “Contra facta non valent argumenta.” Arguments are useless in the face of the facts. Against the facts, you can argue as much as you like, until Doomsday if you wish, but your arguments will not change the facts. Unless, of course, you are a follower of Vladimir Lenin, who said something to this effect: “If the facts disprove our theories, it is just tough luck for the facts!” Now, the fact is that St. Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, clearly and unmistakably affirmed the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, when he asked the Corinthians these rhetorical questions: “The cup of blessing which…Continue Reading

Special Situations In Marriage

February 10, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Special Situations In Marriage

By DON FIER As we saw last week, it is not uncommon in contemporary times for members of the Catholic faithful to enter into interreligious marriages. These marriages are classified in two ways by the Church: mixed marriage (between a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic) and marriage with disparity of cult (between a Catholic and a non-baptized person). The Church’s preference has always been that Catholics marry other Catholics who share the fullness of the faith, but she also recognizes that “difference of confession between the spouses does not constitute an insurmountable obstacle for marriage” (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], n. 1634). Those who enter into such unions, however, have increased risk for disunity in the heart of their…Continue Reading