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A Theologian Responds To Fr. Chiodi’s Talk . . . Moral Relativism Ends In Justifying All Moral Disorders

January 17, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Theologian Responds To Fr. Chiodi’s Talk . . . Moral Relativism Ends In Justifying All Moral Disorders

(Editor’s Note: Please see page one for a LifeSiteNews report on December 14 remarks by Fr. Maurizio Chiodi saying that responsible parenthood can obligate a married couple to use contraception. Fr. Chiodi, a recently appointed member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, based his theory on Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on the family, Amoris Laetitia. He gave this public lecture at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. (Below is an assessment of Fr. Chiodi’s talk from a well-respected moral theologian who wished to remain anonymous. LifeSiteNews included the theologian’s critique with its report on the Chiodi talk. (Following the theologian’s essay, we provide some key excerpts from Humanae Vitae. The encyclical celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.) + + +…Continue Reading

“Ad Orientem” Dei Gloriam

January 15, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on “Ad Orientem” Dei Gloriam

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK We have all heard the saying that “he who hesitates is lost.” We don’t hear enough about the fact that dithering in the face of opportunity can also mean the loss of an immortal soul. How many priests hesitate every day to courageously proclaim the truth or to offer the traditions of the Church in her liturgy? And how many souls remain in error or sin at risk of damnation as a result we will never know until the last day. Until that final moment, however, we are called to struggle heroically on behalf of Christ for the sake of salvation. The souls we save may include our own. Each of us is responsible for…Continue Reading

The Sacraments Instituted By Christ… Confirmation: A Spiritual Coming Of Age

January 14, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Sacraments Instituted By Christ… Confirmation: A Spiritual Coming Of Age

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 11 In previous lessons, we have learned that out of the seven sacraments instituted by Our Lord Jesus Christ, three of them can be received only once in life, namely, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders. This is so because they imprint a “character,” that is, a spiritual, indelible mark that lasts forever, and, therefore, cannot be repeated. Confirmation is, as it were, a spiritual coming of age. As we can come of age physically but once, so we can come of age spiritually but once. The baptismal character marks us as a disciple (follower) of Christ, while the character given in Confirmation enrolls us as an apostle (missionary) of Christ, fully equipped for promotion…Continue Reading

Requirements For Matrimony

January 13, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Requirements For Matrimony

By DON FIER The celebration of the Sacrament of Matrimony between two baptized Catholics, as we saw last week, normally takes place during the Eucharist. “Since marriage establishes the couple in a public state of life in the Church,” states the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), “it is fitting that its celebration be public, in the framework of a liturgical celebration, before the priest (or a witness authorized by the Church), the witnesses, and the assembly of the faithful” (n. 1663). Having prepared by worthy reception of the Sacrament of Penance, the spouses offer themselves to one another and seal that offering in Christ’s own sacrifice; they then unite themselves to our Lord and Savior by receiving His Body…Continue Reading

Follow The Lord And Repent

January 12, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Follow The Lord And Repent

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Third Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR B) Readings: John 3:1-5, 10 1 Cor. 7:29-31 Mark 1:14-20 In the beginning of our Lord’s public ministry, the first message He spoke, as St. Mark recorded it, was that it is a time of fulfillment and that the Kingdom of God is at hand; therefore, it is necessary to repent and to believe in the Gospel. After that, He began calling some people to follow Him. That call appears to have been so compelling that those He called dropped everything and came after Him. The Lord continues to call people to Himself; there are many conversion stories that show that the same compelling nature, the same irresistible pull, is…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

January 11, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. In the Mass readings leading up to Christmas, we have the Angel Gabriel appearing first to Zechariah and then to Mary. Both seemed to have the same doubts about the angel’s words, but Zechariah was struck mute and Mary was not. Why were they treated differently? — E.M., via e-mail. A. Zechariah was punished because he doubted (“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”) that God could give his elderly wife a child, while Mary was unpunished because she did not doubt God, but only wanted to know the manner in which she would conceive a child since she had taken a vow of virginity (“How can this…Continue Reading

Three Kazakhstan Bishops Say . . . Pope’s Reading Of Amoris Laetitia Is “Alien” To The Faith

January 10, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Three Kazakhstan Bishops Say . . . Pope’s Reading Of Amoris Laetitia Is “Alien” To The Faith

(Editor’s Note: Below is the full text of three Kazakhstan Catholic bishops’ statement on Amoris Laetitia, as provided by LifeSiteNews. The three bishops are Archbishop Tomash Peta, Archbishop Jan Pawel Lenga, and Bishop Athanasius Schneider. See Fr. Kevin M. Cusick’s column on page 2B of this week’s issue for commentary on this statement, and also see the page 1A story about the two Italian bishops who joined forces with their brothers in Kazakhstan. (According to a January 2 LifeSiteNews story by Diane Montagna, Bishop Schneider, auxiliary of Astana, Kazakhstan, Archbishop Peta, Metropolitan of Astana, and Archbishop Lenga of Karaganda, Kazakhstan issued this profession of the immutable truths about sacramental marriage on December 31 as a “service of charity in truth”…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Homosexual Acts, Fornication, And Adultery Are Sinful

January 8, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Homosexual Acts, Fornication, And Adultery Are Sinful

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK These are times in which we must never tire of the ordinary courage of repeating what is simply true. An auxiliary bishop of Hong Kong told a priest who had planned a so-called “LGBT” Mass for Christmas that he must not do so because the homosexual act “is a sin.” The priest canceled the Mass. Now, that’s a bishop who knows how to bishop. His simple and effective way of stating the truth of the Gospel and of the Commandments is an example for us all. He brings to mind the example of the saints and in particular Maria Goretti who, when asked to indulge the lust of Alessandro, stated simply, “No, it is a…Continue Reading

The Sacraments Instituted By Christ… The Seven Gifts Of The Holy Spirit

January 7, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Sacraments Instituted By Christ… The Seven Gifts Of The Holy Spirit

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 10 As we study the Sacrament of Confirmation, one may tend to ask, even subconsciously, something like, “What’s in it for me?” That is, what are the effects of Confirmation, what good does it do to my soul, what can I look forward to receiving from it? The primary effect of Confirmation, as of all sacraments of the living, is a great increase of the divine life of sanctifying grace, and, consequently, a closer and more intimate union with God who dwells in our soul. This indwelling is appropriated to the Holy Spirit. That is the very first effect of Confirmation: a closer and more intimate union with God who dwells in our souls.…Continue Reading

The Authority Of Bishops… Celibacy Among The Early Christians

January 6, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Authority Of Bishops… Celibacy Among The Early Christians

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 7 I have heard from many a Catholic the idea that the early Church had no teaching on celibacy. It was supposedly a medieval imposition of the Latin Church upon the faithful. The early Christians, they say, took God’s commandment to “Be fruitful and multiply” seriously. But such people fail to see the context, the hints in the Old Testament pointing to a future celibacy, the difference between commandment and counsel, the teachings of Jesus Himself and especially of St. Paul, who explicitly recommends celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. The early Christians laid down their lives for Jesus Christ: They were martyred right, left, and center — crucified, burned alive,…Continue Reading