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Catholic Replies

October 15, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: We are starting a new series on Apologetics that is based on the book Catholicism & Reason. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. You can send them either to the postal mailing address or to the email address below, and we will interrupt this series to answer them. Special Course On Catholicism And Reason (Chapters 1 and 2) Many people today describe themselves as spiritual rather than religious. What this means is that they are not bound by any religious beliefs or principles, but make up their own spiritual and moral values as they go along. They say that there…Continue Reading

Catholic Identity Confirmed At Conference

October 14, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Identity Confirmed At Conference

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK One of the most important events of the year is the annual Catholic Identity Conference. Big thinkers and writers from Rome and throughout the U.S. gather for liturgy, presentation of papers and talks, and to share news and ideas. Most important, as the name of the conference implies, they pray and work together to cement and deepen our Catholic Faith and the identity that should come with it. The greatest crisis in the Church since Vatican II has been the destruction and the loss of Catholic identity and, for so many as a result, the faith itself.Among the many Catholic organizations and media reps, yours truly represented The Wanderer at the conference held in Pittsburgh…Continue Reading

What Conscience Dreads And Prayer Dares Not Ask

October 13, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on What Conscience Dreads And Prayer Dares Not Ask

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Pope posted this column on October 3 and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + The Collect (Opening Prayer) for this week’s Masses (27th Week of the Year), though directed to God, teaches us that our prayer is not always about things with which we are comfortable. It sometimes leads us to examine areas of our life in which we struggle with sin or we struggle to desire to be free of sin. Here is the prayer: Almighty ever-living God,who in the abundance of your kindnesssurpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you,pour out your mercy upon usto pardon what conscience dreadsand to give what prayer does not dare…Continue Reading

Participate In Christ’s Redemptive Work

October 11, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Participate In Christ’s Redemptive Work

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Ninth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR B) Readings: Isaiah 53:10-11Heb. 4:14-16Mark 10:35-45 In the Gospel reading today, our Lord tells us that He came to serve, not to be served. This service is one of charity, the highest form of love. As such, He gives Himself freely without looking for or expecting anything in return. This is the nature of love, but the nature of love is also that it is reciprocal. Love gives without seeking anything in return, but love is also a relationship in which both are to give and both are to receive.The context of our Lord telling His apostles that He came to serve rather than be served was when James and…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

October 8, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. After reading a column in a recent issue of The Wanderer, I have to ask, was Mary Magdalene, the repentant sinner, the same woman as Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus? — B.R., via e-mail.A. What we do know for certain about Mary Magdalene is that Jesus cast seven demons out of her (cf. Luke 8:2), that she and other women, including Joanna and Susanna, journeyed with Jesus and provided for His and the apostles’ material needs out of their own resources, that she was a witness of the crucifixion and burial of the Savior, and that she was the first person to whom Jesus appeared publicly after His Resurrection from the dead. We also know that when…Continue Reading

Blessed Be The Rigid

October 7, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Blessed Be The Rigid

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Another plane ride, another papal interview. This was on the return flight from Hungary and Slovakia and it was a bumpy one for the Church.The Pope gave: He affirmed that the abominable crime and sin of abortion is “murder.” Legal or not, procured abortion is always the unjust taking of an innocent human life. Whether human life is in the womb or out is irrelevant. The taking of a human life is murder and disobedience to God who has decreed, “Thou shall not kill.” Capital punishment is not murder, but that’s a discussion for another time and place.“It’s a human life, period. This human life must be respected. This principle is so clear. And to…Continue Reading

On Being Light In The Darkness

October 6, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on On Being Light In The Darkness

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this column on September 25 and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + Here is a talk I recently gave in Laurel, Md., for the women of the region, titled “Of Friends and Foes: A Homily for the 26th Sunday of the Year.”In this Sunday’s Gospel there is a certain tension between legitimate freedom and truths we must insist upon. We also have a lot to learn in sorting out friends and foes.I. Foe or Friend? — The text begins, John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do…Continue Reading

Called To A Greater Holiness

October 4, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Called To A Greater Holiness

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Eighth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR B) Readings: Wisdom 7:7-11Hebrews 4:12-13Mark 10:17-30 In the Gospel reading today, we hear about a young man who came to our Lord asking what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Our Lord tells him he needs to follow the Commandments. When the young man answers that he has followed the Commandments from his youth, our Lord looks upon him with love. In so doing, Jesus calls the young man to a greater holiness and invites the man to follow Him.There was only one catch to following our Lord: the young man had to give up everything. Because of his material possessions, the man went away sad. Think about…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

October 1, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. The Bible talks about “trials and tribulations” we must go through. However, I read an obituary of a man who apparently led a wonderful and fulfilling life. Where were his trials? — J.B., Pennsylvania.A. It is unlikely that the obituary would have mentioned the difficult and trying moments in that man’s life, which doesn’t mean that there weren’t any. Will your obituary mention the tribulations in your life? Our obituary will make it appear that we had a wonderful and fulfilling life, which we have had, but it won’t mention the baby we lost at two weeks of age, or the daughter who suffered a brain aneurysm (she has recovered), or the daughter who has breast cancer (she is…Continue Reading

The Lord Blessed Their Generosity

October 1, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Lord Blessed Their Generosity

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Thirty-Second Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR B) Readings:1 Kings 17:10-16Heb. 9:24-28Mark 12:38-44 In all three readings today we hear about trust and generosity. We see the heroic generosity of the widow who is willing to give the last of her bread to Elijah. She had already stated that when she and her son ate what remained they would die. Even with this, she was willing to give the little she had to Elijah rather than keeping it for herself and her son.In the Gospel we see the same kind of generosity in the poor widow who put two small coins into the Temple treasury. The coins did not amount to much, but they were all she…Continue Reading