Thursday 28th March 2024

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Catholic Teaching On The Sacrament Of Penance . . . Clear And Concise Catholic Moral Guidance On Confession

February 15, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Teaching On The Sacrament Of Penance . . . Clear And Concise Catholic Moral Guidance On Confession

By FR. JOHN TRIGILIO (Editor’s Note: This article on Confession by Fr. John Trigilio, Ph.D., Th.D., appeared in CatholicAction.org and is reprinted here with permission. (Fr. Trigilio is a pastor, the president of the American Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, and the coauthor of Catholicism for Dummies.) + + + Q. Why should Catholics confess their sins to a priest? What sins need to be confessed? A. After Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, He appeared to the apostles, breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you forgive, are forgiven them. Whose sins you retain, are retained” (John 20:22-23). Had Jesus not wanted or intended His ordained ministers to absolve sins, why would He have…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… The God Of Silence: Witness Of A Young Father

February 13, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… The God Of Silence: Witness Of A Young Father

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK I recently received a wonderful handwritten letter from a young husband and father. So often parishes are the brunt of abusive and unkind behavior on the part of Catholics who are in the midst of a struggle with their own maturity or lack of commitment. Many who say they are Catholic seem to have little or no love for the Church and her members. I share with you here a refreshingly different openness that comes with faith that is radically open to Christ, who comes to us through the Church. My voice broke with emotion as I shared this letter with my parishioners at a Sunday Mass, touched as I was by someone who is…Continue Reading

What Is Faith?… Adam And Eve: Their Gifts And Their Fall

February 12, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on What Is Faith?… Adam And Eve: Their Gifts And Their Fall

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 24 After having seen that the much-promoted “theory of evolution” of man from an inferior species is scientific nonsense, and that the chromosomal unity of all human races points to a common origin, as the laws of genetic demonstrate, we now enter the field of divine Revelation. We will investigate who were our first parents, from whom the whole of mankind stems. The Church teaches that God granted to them unique gifts, such as, sanctifying grace, immortality, integrity, happiness, and enlightenment. They were put to the test, to assess their fidelity, in order to deserve the Beatific Vision, but they failed the test. They lost their gifts, but did not lose their free will.…Continue Reading

The Institution Of The Holy Eucharist

February 11, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Institution Of The Holy Eucharist

By DON FIER Bread and wine, as we saw last week, are “at the heart of the Eucharistic celebration” (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], n. 1333). As succinctly summarized by Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ, these two elements are significant for several reasons: bread and wine are expressive of the goodness of creation; they witness the fulfillment of Melchizedek’s offering in the Old Law; bread commemorates the Passover of the Israelites; manna in the desert prefigures the bread of the Eucharist; bread is representative of God’s pledge of fidelity to feed His people; and the cup of blessing symbolizes the New Jerusalem at the end of time (cf. The Faith, p. 118). St. Thomas Aquinas further elaborates on the…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

February 10, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. Is it okay to give out a blessed rosary or a blessed medal to a non-Catholic when evangelizing when that person will put it around his neck as a piece of jewelry and not see it as a religious object? There is a lady who gives out rosaries without any written material to let them know how to pray the rosary. — W.B., via e-mail. A. Yes, it is okay to give religious objects, such as rosaries or medals, to non-Catholics whom one is trying to evangelize. These sacramentals have been known to lead to the conversion of persons who received them. Naturally, passing them out ought to be accompanied by an explanation of their religious significance and a…Continue Reading

Sons And Daughters Of God

February 9, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Sons And Daughters Of God

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Seventh Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Lev. 19:1-2, 17-18 1 Cor. 3:16-23 Matt. 5:38-48 We all know that our Lord took what was written in the Law and brought it to a new and more profound level. For instance, He says several times in the Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard it said,” then states what is written in the Law. He follows this by saying: “But I say to you.” In each instance our Lord requires of His followers a far more rigorous way of dealing with others. The rigor, however, is not toward the other, but toward the self. For instance, in the Gospel reading today we hear that if someone…Continue Reading

March For Life 2017… Get In The Game

February 8, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on March For Life 2017… Get In The Game

By FR. SHENAN BOQUET (Editor’s Note: Fr. Shenan Boquet is the president of Human Life International, and he travels around the world spreading the Gospel of Life in that role. He is a priest of the Houma-Thibodaux Diocese in Louisiana where he served before joining HLI in August 2011. (Fr. Boquet’s commentary below urging abortion opponents to “get in the game” was posted at HLI.org on January 28 and is reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. (In this commentary, Fr. Boquet references the January 22 March for Life in Paris. According to Fr. Mark Hodges in LifeSiteNews, more than 50,000 pro-lifers from across France gathered for the event. Carrying signs and chanting “Protecting the weak is truly strong,” protesters called…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Historic And Surprise Encounters At The March For Life

February 6, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Historic And Surprise Encounters At The March For Life

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The day of the annual March for Life in Washington dawned clear and dry with encouraging weather for the holy legions of faithful warriors defending the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death. We joined in great numbers again in the nation’s capital to continue our unbroken witness of prayer and action since the 1973 legalization of murder of preborn boys and girls. Moderate temperatures and clear skies buoyed the spirits of the many who converged upon the streets of Washington, D.C., for the 44th annual peaceful protest. I joined the very large crowd swelling the March for Life speakers’ venue on the grounds of the Washington Monument and awaited the historic first-time…Continue Reading

What Is Faith?. . . Evolutionist Frauds, Lies, And Bluffs

February 5, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on What Is Faith?. . . Evolutionist Frauds, Lies, And Bluffs

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 23 Another fraudulent bluff of evolutionists (forgive the redundancy) was the “Nebraska Man,” but it was not a fraud but a bluff, or a joke, really. A tooth was found, and the imaginative scientists, drunk with their dreams of evolution, immediately claimed to have found the tooth of a primitive man. But when I say “imaginative,” I am not making fun of them. They managed to draw an entire man out of a tooth! That’s imagination! To make matters worse, the tooth was found not even human, either. It was the tooth of a wild pig, a peccary. . . . Other “missing links” keep on missing, such as the Neanderthal Man, the “Australopithecines,”…Continue Reading

Bread And Wine As Eucharistic Signs

February 4, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Bread And Wine As Eucharistic Signs

By DON FIER The immeasurable richness of the Holy Eucharist as the central mystery of the Catholic faith is reflected by its many designations, each of which evokes an aspect of its wondrous profundity. The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church provides a list of its more common names, many of which we considered last week: “the Eucharist, Holy Mass, the Lord’s Supper, the Breaking of the Bread, the Eucharistic Celebration, the Memorial of the Passion, death, and Resurrection of the Lord, the Holy Sacrifice, the Holy and Divine Liturgy, the Sacred Mysteries, the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, and Holy Communion” (n. 275). Truly, the Eucharist is “our highest act of thanksgiving to God” (Fr. John…Continue Reading