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Benedict XVI Book Published Posthumously

February 9, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Benedict XVI Book Published Posthumously

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK People have been reacting somewhat sensationally to the first ever posthumously published papal pennings by Benedict XVI released on January 20. His reign as Pope was unique, and certainly his retirement nearly so, the first in over 600 years. Now, certainly remarkable for the uniqueness of the gesture, he ordered that a book of essays be published only after his death, all of which were composed after his earth-shaking 2013 retirement.Lay people have been asking me what I think about the matter. A priest friend conversant in Italian ordered the book, not yet available in English, as did I. My copy has not yet arrived so I’ve been leaning for understanding on the few available…Continue Reading

The Hardening Of Hearts Caused By The Deceit Of Sin

February 8, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Hardening Of Hearts Caused By The Deceit Of Sin

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this article on January 30 and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + There is a line from the Letter to the Hebrews. In it was an important admonition, especially appropriate for our times:“Encourage yourselves daily while it is still today, so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin” (Heb. 3:12).Collectively speaking, we been hardened by the deceit of sin. Many of us who are older remember times when sins that are openly practiced (and even celebrated) today were considered shameful a mere 50 years ago. Premarital sex (fornication), living together before marriage (which many called “shacking up”), and divorce were considered scandalous. “Gay”…Continue Reading

Choose To Keep The Commandments

February 6, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Choose To Keep The Commandments

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Sixth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Sirach 15:15-201 Cor. 2:6-10Matt. 5:17-37 In the first reading, the wise man, Sirach, tells us that if we choose, we can keep the Commandments. With the help of God’s grace, we have the ability to keep the Commandments, but the question is whether or not it is our will to do so. I remember speaking with a person who had a habitual area of sin. The individual would do well for a while, but then fall again. After this occurred a number of times, the person’s spiritual director said, “You don’t want to get rid of this sin.”This is difficult to hear, but it is the truth. On…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World . . . “Lord, I Love You!”: BXVI Bio Part IV

February 2, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World . . . “Lord, I Love You!”: BXVI Bio Part IV

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK No one is a better witness to a life than the man himself who lived it. In this fourth and final column on Georg Ganswein’s biography of Benedict XVI, entitled Nothing But the Truth, I share the words of the priest, theologian, archbishop, cardinal, Pope and Pope Emeritus himself as imparted therein.The advance copy in unofficial English translation made available to me is rough in some spots, with the need to provide a word here or there to complete the meaning. These I have indicated with parentheses. We await the official English translation from the publisher to see where the consensus falls in rendering the Italian of the original into English.In his last homily of…Continue Reading

Basics Of Christian Anthropology

February 1, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Basics Of Christian Anthropology

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE Part 2 (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this article on January 15 and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + At its root, anthropology considers what human beings are and how they have interacted with one another and the world around them over time. While many think of anthropology as a secular study of cultures from ancient to modern day, I propose that there is also a Christian anthropology, one that considers who and what the human person is based on God’s Revelation in His word and through our bodies. Indeed, our body is a Revelation from God, and by and through it He teaches us.This essay is not a complete discourse on the…Continue Reading

Let Your Light Shine Before Others

January 30, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Let Your Light Shine Before Others

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 58:7-101 Cor. 2:1-5Matt. 5:13-16 In the second reading today, St. Paul reminds the people of Corinth of how they came to faith in Jesus. He also reminds them of his own disposition when he arrived at Corinth from Athens. St. Paul says he did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom; rather, he spoke only of Jesus, and Jesus Christ crucified. This meant the faith of the Corinthians was based on Jesus and His saving work on the cross, and not on impressive words or sublime speech.This means that their faith was based on something divine, not on something human. What is most amazing is…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

January 27, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. When Joseph and Mary came to the inn in Bethlehem, the innkeeper said that there was no room and told them to “go on.” That night an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in his dream and said, “It is you who shall go on and on.” Is this true? — J.B., Pennsylvania.A. Not according to the Gospel accounts of the birth of our Lord. In St. Luke’s account of the Nativity, he makes no mention of the innkeeper, but says only that Mary wrapped Jesus “in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (2:7). There are no recorded words of the innkeeper.The next time an angel…Continue Reading

New Book By Ganswein On BXVI

January 26, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on New Book By Ganswein On BXVI

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Part 2 Upon his death we shared the witness that Pope Benedict lived in the words he uttered. Archbishop Georg Ganswein’s book Nothing But the Truth recounting his life with the great Pope is now out in bookstores. Here I share some vignettes of that volume from an advance unofficial English translation.In October 1978 the future Benedict XVI shared the following words at a Munich requiem for John Paul I, sentiments which, the world would soon witness, he himself lived.“The only greatness in the Church is to be saints. And her saints are the pillars of light that show us the way. Henceforth he too will be a part of these lights. And from what…Continue Reading

Basics Of Christian Anthropology

January 25, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Basics Of Christian Anthropology

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE Part 1 (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this article on January 13 and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + Anthropology is, most simply, the science or study of human beings through time and space. Different specialties focus on the analysis of biological/physiological characteristics and the examination of societies/cultures. In the religious sense, anthropology deals with the origin, nature, and destiny of human beings.In our times there are many moral issues emerging from viewpoints that diverge widely from our given nature, both physical and spiritual. Numerous false notions (e.g., “transgenderism”) have arisen that either disregard or even deny physical data. Other errors involve ignoring the clear evidence of humans’ spiritual nature, which so distinguishes…Continue Reading

Grace And Humility

January 23, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Grace And Humility

BY FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fourth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Zeph. 2:3, 3:12-131 Cor. 1:26-31Matt. 5:1-12a In the first reading today, the Lord calls all the humble of the Earth to seek Him. Interestingly, He then calls them to seek justice and humility with the hope that they would be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger. In other words, these people who are already humble must continue to strive for greater humility. From this greater humility will flow justice and charity. It is precisely these virtues that will provide the foundation for the renewal of humanity after the day of the Lord’s anger.Before we address the necessity of humility for what is coming, we need to…Continue Reading