Friday 19th April 2024

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Bishop Strickland . . . St. Joseph The Worker And The Dignity Of Human Work

May 4, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Bishop Strickland . . . St. Joseph The Worker And The Dignity Of Human Work

By MOST REV. JOSEPH STRICKLAND On May 1, the Roman Catholic Church commemorates the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. That is why I felt it was an appropriate time to reflect upon the creative and redemptive value of all human work, especially when it is joined to Jesus Christ the Worker. Many years ago, on May 1, some Communist regimes paraded their weapons of destruction through the streets of major cities. They called it May Day and International Workers Day. The Marxists proclaimed that a workers’ paradise could be achieved through a counterfeit ideology which promised a new man and a new society without need for a Savior. They were wrong. It was during that historical period that the Catholic…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

May 1, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: In his Easter Sunday bulletin at the Church of St. Michael in New York City, Fr. George Rutler noted that “on Palm Sunday, Queen Elizabeth spoke words as maternal as they were monarchial: ‘We will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.’ Those with memories long enough will recognize that the Queen was evoking the World War II song: ‘We’ll meet again. Don’t know where, don’t know when. But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day’.” Fr. Rutler said that “in hard times people have consoled each other with the promise, ‘We’ll meet again.’ Because of the cruelties of circumstance, not all did meet again, not in this…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World . . . When This Plague Ship Returns To Port

April 29, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World . . . When This Plague Ship Returns To Port

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK In my life as a chaplain I had occasion to observe human behavior up close. Particularly so on the aircraft carrier, a city at sea, where I served aboard for three years, and for two deployments within that period. When the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was fully loaded, to include the aircraft units, there were about 5,000 people aboard. The ship needed everything to run a military airport at sea and everything necessary to support the lives of the personnel needed for that mission. There were two nuclear reactors and everything entailed to operate the ship itself. Start to list everything you need for your daily life at home to do your work — except…Continue Reading

The Only Means Of Salvation

April 28, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Only Means Of Salvation

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fourth Sunday Of Easter (YR A) Readings: Acts 2:14a, 36-41 1 Peter 2:20b-25 John 10:1-10 In the Gospel reading today, Jesus tells us He is the gate for the sheep. As we know, it was a common practice to have a fenced-in pen wherein the sheep could spend the night in safety, but there was no gate on the pen. Instead, the shepherd would sleep in the opening, thus remaining with his sheep while keeping them in the pen and keeping predators away. For a sheep to enter or exit the sheepfold, it would have to go past the shepherd. The sheep could not go over the fence, so the shepherd served as the only means…Continue Reading

Bishop Strickland . . . In The Wake Of COVID-19 . . . Time For A New Missionary Age

April 27, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Bishop Strickland . . . In The Wake Of COVID-19 . . . Time For A New Missionary Age

By MOST REV. JOSEPH STRICKLAND I write this article as the COVID-19 Pandemic continues. Hopefully, it is waning in its severity. Yet, in its wake it has presented, for millions, an existential crisis, a time when deep reflection on the meaning of our lives has resurfaced. On Monday April 20, 2020, I read an excellent article in The Catholic Thing by Dr. Robert Royal entitled “The Start of a Reckoning.” Dr. Royal observed: “A legitimate Christian debate is underway about whether the virus is a ‘chastisement’ for the many sins of the modern world, even in Christian and formerly Christian nations. In the nature of things, we can’t say for sure, unless we receive some message from on high. But…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

April 24, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: Many thanks to B.W. of Florida, a “grateful convert,” for her kind words about this column and for her Easter Mass card. Q. After the Resurrection, could everyone see Jesus or just the disciples? Could those who had Him crucified see Him? — T.G., Washington State. A. In his summary of the appearances of Jesus after His Resurrection, St. Paul says: “For I have handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, that he appeared to Cephas [Peter], then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World Rather Than Offering Fear, Offer Heaven

April 22, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World Rather Than Offering Fear, Offer Heaven

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK In the state where I reside, the governor is requiring face masks in grocery stores. The county in which I live is cracking down on people suspected of using a trip to the grocery store to get out of the house. They are accomplishing this by assigning shopping days to groups based on first letter of one’s last name. I can now only get groceries in my county on dates ending in the 0 or 5. Absolutely Orwellian. Yes, evidence points to the COVID19 virus being highly transmissible. Yes, hotspots can flare up again if people start interacting and congregating too soon. But who decides how far we go before the cure is worse than…Continue Reading

Keeping Our Hope In Jesus

April 21, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Keeping Our Hope In Jesus

BY FR. ROBERT ALTIER Third Sunday Of Easter (YR A) Readings: Acts 2:14, 22-23 1 Peter 1:17-21 Luke 24:13-35 It is wonderful to hear in today’s Gospel reading about our Lord opening the Scriptures for the two disciples on the way to Emmaus and then revealing Himself to these men in the Breaking of the Bread. However, before our Lord did these things for His disciples, there are a couple of things we have to consider. The first question is: Why did these men leave Jerusalem? They explain to Jesus their understanding of who Jesus is and the hopes they had in Him. Then they tell about the fact that the women had gone to the tomb and found it…Continue Reading

Bishop Strickland . . . Divine Mercy Sunday . . . Healing The Wounds Of Our Disbelief

April 20, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Bishop Strickland . . . Divine Mercy Sunday . . . Healing The Wounds Of Our Disbelief

By MOST REV. JOSEPH STRICKLAND The Second Sunday of Easter is “Divine Mercy Sunday” in the Roman Catholic Liturgical Calendar. It ends the Octave (eight days) of our Easter celebration, but opens into the Easter Season. The Easter Season continues until we commemorate the great Feast of Pentecost. The Gospel for Holy Mass (John 20:19-31) recounts another one of the many Post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ to His disciples recorded in the Bible. The glorified Jesus appears to His disciples, coming through locked doors and says “Peace be with you.” He breathes upon them the Holy Spirit, creating them anew. He also communicates His authority to forgive sins to the apostles who will continue His redemptive mission through the Church,…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

April 17, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: A few weeks ago, a reader from Oregon recalled that when he was raised in the thirties and forties, “we were taught that, during Lent and Advent, we were to say the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary on Sundays, instead of the Glorious Mysteries.” He wondered if this was a universal practice or just a local custom. We promised to ask readers of this column for their comments. Several readers responded that this coincided with their memories, while others said that the Joyful Mysteries were recited on the Sundays in Advent, and the Sorrowful Mysteries on the Sundays in Lent. S.M. emailed us the following instruction from the 1962 Roman Missal: “It has become customary to say only…Continue Reading