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I’ll Be Home For Christmas

December 25, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on I’ll Be Home For Christmas

By FR. MICHAEL P. ORSI The winter of 1989 was my first away from St. Paul, Stone Harbor, NJ, in seven years. I was studying at Fordham University, in Manhattan. As the air began to become crisp in The Big Apple around October, I thought that there would be nothing more exciting than celebrating Christmas in the city. Around Thanksgiving, I found myself repeatedly humming Bing Crosby’s Silver Bells: “Silver bells, silver bells / It’s Christmas time in the city / Ring-a-ling, (ring-a-ling) hear them ring (ting-a-ling) / Soon it will be Christmas day.” The big tree in Rockefeller Center, the smell of the cut spruce for sale along the sidewalks, the spectacular decorations in the store windows, and the…Continue Reading

The Sacraments Instituted By Christ… Frequent Questions About Baptism

December 24, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Sacraments Instituted By Christ… Frequent Questions About Baptism

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 8 Often, in the course of my talks on Catholic apologetics, the Catechism, and general Q & A on various aspects of Catholic doctrine, people ask me about the controversy regarding the question of what happens to babies who die, either by disease, serious birth defects, or abortion, without Baptism. The common teaching of theologians is that infants who die without Baptism are not admitted to the beatific vision of Heaven, since they have not been cleansed of original sin; by the same token, they cannot suffer the pains of Hell, since they are free of personal sin. After death, they must, therefore, enter a state of natural, but not supernatural, happiness, known as…Continue Reading

The Sacramentality Of Marriage

December 23, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Sacramentality Of Marriage

By DON FIER Having elevated Matrimony to the dignity of a sacrament at the wedding feast in Cana, Christ steadfastly preached throughout the course of His public ministry that marriage had been restored to the “original meaning of the union of man and woman as the Creator willed it from the beginning” (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], n. 1614). Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ, expertly summarizes this topic as we considered it last week: “Matrimony in the Lord” means “the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. Christian marriage is a symbol of Christ’s unfailing love of His Spouse, the Church. The Savior restored marriage to its original state before the fall of our first parents. It is now to…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

December 22, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: Many years ago, we read a column about some of the people alive at the time of Jesus’ birth who missed out on that first Christmas because they were preoccupied with other things. We can’t recall who wrote the column or we would give them credit for the idea. But we would like to share some of the insights that we can remember since they have just as much relevance today. Those Who Missed Out On Christmas There is no story in human history more familiar to us than the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. In the Scripture readings at Christmas, we will hear once again the details of this long-awaited and anxiously anticipated event,…Continue Reading

The Heavenly Choir Nursery

December 21, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Heavenly Choir Nursery

By FR. MICHAEL P. ORSI Angels have always played a prominent role in Scripture. Their job is to announce God’s message and to praise Him, especially in song. During the Christmas Season, the angels’ hymn over the Babe in the manager, “Glory to God in the highest. . .” (Luke 2:14), resounds in our ears. In the very last book of the Bible, we read of their song around the heavenly throne, “Amen, blessing and glory…to our God forever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 7: 9-12). When we sing in church we are joining the angels’ and saints’ praise of the Creator. And, we anticipate the great chorus of all the angels and saints foretold at the end of time. Fine-tuning…Continue Reading

St. Leo And St. Augustine: Rejoice In The Savior’s Birth

December 20, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on St. Leo And St. Augustine: Rejoice In The Savior’s Birth

(Editor’s Note: Below are two classic Christmas sermons from two saints: first, one from Pope St. Leo the Great, which appears on www.catholicism.org, and second, one from St. Augustine, which appears on www.catholic.org.) + + + From Pope St. Leo the Great: Our Savior, dearly Beloved, was born this day. Let us rejoice. Sadness is not becoming upon the Birth Day of Life Itself, which, now that the fear of death is ended, fills us with gladness, because of our own promised immortality. No one is excluded from sharing in this cheerfulness, for the reason of our joy is common to all men. Our Lord, the Conqueror of sin and death, since there was no one free from servitude, came…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Merry Christmas

December 18, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Merry Christmas

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The language of men is the first thing we learn, after the taking in of that which is necessary for the nourishment of the flesh, upon issuing forth from our mother’s womb. What are at first unrecognizable sounds begin to point beyond themselves. Symbolism gradually takes over our thinking processes as we learn to assign various sounds to describe, and enable us to exist and operate among the people, places, and things around us. This column you are reading is possible because we were initiated into a common symbolic structure that, with minor variations from place to place, enables us to bridge the distance between us and to enter into a dialog that unites us…Continue Reading

The Sacraments Instituted By Christ… Conditional Baptism And Other Forms

December 17, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Sacraments Instituted By Christ… Conditional Baptism And Other Forms

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 7 Years ago, I knew a young man in Brazil, my country of birth, who, after a few months of catechism lessons, expressed the desire to be baptized, and wanted me to stand at the ceremony as his godfather. I agreed to do so, of course, but there was a problem: He thought that he had been baptized as a child. Since both of his parents were Japanese immigrants and with little knowledge of Catholicism, I thought of asking the parish priest to baptize him on a conditional basis, and consulted a priest friend about it, to make sure it was OK. And it was. My friend received a conditional Baptism, and I am…Continue Reading

Marriage In The Lord

December 16, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Marriage In The Lord

By DONALD FIER Two weeks ago, we established that “the vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator” (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], n. 1603). Created “male and female” (Gen. 2:17; Matt. 19:4; Mark 10:6) and in the “image and likeness of God” (cf. Gen. 1:26, 27), they were enabled to “become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:5; Eph. 5:31) in a complete union of self-giving love. Moreover, this “marital union of man and woman…is by its very nature ordered to the communion and good of the couple and to the generation and education of children” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

December 15, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: As we prepare to celebrate another Christmas, it might be appropriate to offer the following summary of the life of the Person whose birth we honor this month. His Story Begins Jesus, whose birth is celebrated throughout the whole world every December, has had a greater impact on human history than any person who ever lived. Though He died at the age of thirty-three, the year in which we live is dated (approximately) from His birth. Though He lived in an obscure corner of the Roman Empire 2,000 years ago, some two billion people today call themselves His followers. Though He never wrote a book, tens of thousands of books have been written about His life and teachings.…Continue Reading