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Choose The Narrow Path

February 27, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Choose The Narrow Path

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Second Sunday Of Lent (YR A) Readings:Gen. 12:1-4a2 Tim. 1:8b-10Matt. 17:1-9 In the readings today, there is a theme: a great good being granted after a time of difficulty. In the first reading, Abram is told by the Lord to leave his home and family and go to a place God would show him. In the end, there is a promise that God would make a great nation come from Abram and that all the communities of the Earth would find blessing in him.In the second reading, St. Paul tells us that we are to bear our share of hardship for the Gospel. This is followed by the statement that God has called us to a…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

February 24, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. Who makes up the Prayers of the Faithful at Mass — the celebrating priest, the parish council, the diocese? — G.P., via e-mail.A. The petitions for the Prayers of the Faithful are usually suggested by the Bishops Committee on the Liturgy and, according to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, are to include prayers “a) for the needs of the Church; b) for public authorities and the salvation of the whole world; c) for those burdened by any kind of difficulty; d) for the local community” (n. 70). The same paragraph says that “in any particular celebration, such as a Confirmation, a Marriage, or at a Funeral, the series of intentions may be concerned more closely with the…Continue Reading

We May Be Sure We Know Him If We Keep His Commandments

February 23, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on We May Be Sure We Know Him If We Keep His Commandments

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Deny the Commandments and you deny Christ.On a recent Sunday, with the proclamation of Matthew chapter 5, verses 17-37, we were reminded that the Commandments not only remain in force; they were given as preparation for the perfect revelation of God in Christ.The Lord teaches that He came to fulfill precisely these ten high points of the Divine Law.“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until Heaven and Earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.”What’s more,…Continue Reading

A Picture Of The Transformed Human Person

February 22, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Picture Of The Transformed Human Person

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE The Gospel for Sunday’s Mass, the Sixth Sunday of the year, is from the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:7), specifically 5:17-37. In a way the Lord is drawing a picture for us of the transformed human person. He is presenting a kind of slide show of what sanctity really is. In understanding this rather lengthy text we do well to reflect on it in three parts.The Power of New Life in Christ — We have discussed before that an important principle of the Christian moral vision is that it is received, not achieved. Holiness is a work of God. The human being acting out the power of his flesh alone cannot keep, and surely cannot…Continue Reading

Reject Satan And Worship God

February 20, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Reject Satan And Worship God

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER First Sunday Of Lent (YR A) Readings: Gen. 2:2-9, 3:1-7Romans 5:12-19Matt. 4:1-11 In the first reading we hear about the temptation and the Fall of Adam and Eve. We know that God told Adam he could not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is interesting that when the serpent tempted Eve, the Scriptures do not say she was seeking knowledge. Rather, it says she saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food, it was a delight to the eye, and it was desirable for gaining wisdom.This is interesting because knowledge comes from learning, but wisdom comes from experience. Certainly, there is knowledge that is gleaned from experience,…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

February 17, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This series on the Bible is from the book Catholicism & Scripture. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. Special Course On Catholicism And Scripture (Chapter 13) Prophets are persons who call people back to God. They are specifically called by God and speak with His authority. They sometimes foretell the future. They were not always willing to accept their role and were often afraid. They came from all walks of life — Elisha was a farmer, Amos a shepherd, Isaiah a nobleman, Jeremiah and Ezekiel priests. They differed from false prophets by their holiness of life, their adherence to the…Continue Reading

The Spiritual Is More Solid Than The Physical

February 16, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Spiritual Is More Solid Than The Physical

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Appearances can be deceiving. This overworn adage being so because, human nature being what it is, we must be often reminded of the foolishness, and sometimes the danger, of judging reality purely by what is palpable to our sense of sight.To our eyes the seeming solidity of the Earth upon which we tread and supporting that which we build seems dependable enough. It’s a pretty good working hypothesis. I take walks and run quite often. When jogging on the trail I have to keep a pretty good eye open for roots or holes lest I take a nasty spill. It’s because the ground is soft and more gentle on my joints that I avoid paved…Continue Reading

Improving The Prayer Of The Faithful

February 15, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Improving The Prayer Of The Faithful

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this article on February 7 and it is reprinted here with permission. For links to the sources he cites, please visit his website at msgrpope.com to read the original of this article.) + + They have been called by many names: the prayer of the faithful, the general intercessions, and now most commonly the universal prayers.But they are not the prayers of the faithful since they are usually written by an individual. They are really general intercessions, since they are often rather specific, and they are not universal in the sense that they are, by necessity, particular. It would be impossible to cover the full or universal range of human…Continue Reading

God’s Holy Dwelling Place

February 13, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on God’s Holy Dwelling Place

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Seventh Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Lev. 19:1-2, 17-181 Cor. 3:16-23Matt. 5:38-48 In the first reading, God tells Moses to tell the people of Israel to be holy because the Lord God is holy. Jesus takes this to another level in the Gospel where He tells us to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. Needless to say, this kind of perfection is impossible. God is absolutely perfect; He is lacking nothing, and nothing can be added to Him. Nothing we do can make God’s happiness or holiness increase. At the same time, nothing can cause Him to decrease in any way. Being perfect, God cannot change in any way, shape, or form.As…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

February 10, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. When Jesus said, “In my Father’s house there are many mansions,” what did He mean by “mansions”? — M.M., Alabama.A. In this verse from chapter 14 of John’s Gospel, “mansions” is sometimes translated “dwelling places” or “rooms.” It does not mean that there will be separate places in Heaven for those, for example, of different religions.What Jesus meant was that not all those in Heaven will enjoy the same degree of happiness. Each person will be perfectly happy in knowing and loving God, and will have all the joy that he or she can bear, but the degree of happiness will vary according to the life a person lived on Earth.To use a weak analogy, think of the excitement…Continue Reading