Monday 6th April 2020

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Dutch Cardinal . . . Only Orthodox Teaching And Worthy Liturgy Will Attract Catholics

April 6, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Dutch Cardinal . . . Only Orthodox Teaching And Worthy Liturgy Will Attract Catholics

By JEANNE SMITS (LifeSiteNews) — The French-based association for the promotion of the Traditional liturgy of the Latin Church, Paix Liturgique (“Liturgical Peace”), recently published an interview in French with Willem Jacobus Cardinal Eijk, archbishop of Utrecht in the Netherlands regarding the future prospects of the Church in that deeply secularized country. Cardinal Eijk spoke frankly about the decline of Catholic practice in the liberal-minded Netherlands, a fact he linked with ever-growing “individualism” and also with a lack of prayer and truly “lived” faith even before the Second Vatican Council. He also observed that only truly orthodox Church teaching and “worthy” liturgy can attract the faithful, in particular the Traditional liturgy that appeals first and foremost to the young. In…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

April 3, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: We are in the process of reducing our supply of books and are offering them to interested readers at a substantial discount. The books available, all in mint condition, are Catholic Replies, Catholic Replies 2, All Generations Will Call Me Blessed, Who Do You Say That I Am, Catholicism & Reason (Apologetics), Catholicism & Scripture (Salvation History), and Catholicism & Life (Commandments and Sacraments). The books retail from $10.95 to $17.95 but can be had for 50 percent off for 1 to 25 books, 60 percent off for 26 to 50 books, and 70 percent off for over 50 books. You can learn more about each of these books by visiting www.crpublications.com. Don’t order from the website, however,…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… A Chance To Strengthen Catholic Identity

April 1, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… A Chance To Strengthen Catholic Identity

By Fr. KEVIN M. CUSICK Never let a crisis go to waste. This is true for cynical politicians and unscrupulous business types. Should it be true for the Church as well? I think so. Weeks ago, dioceses nearly worldwide, in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, have ordered public Masses canceled. Bishops have stipulated that these not be replaced by Communion services which will also draw a gathering. Priests were often told what not to do and left scrambling to figure out what to do. They should certainly continue to offer Mass privately, and for the intentions and needs of their people. But priests are fathers, left mired in frustration if they think they are not doing enough to care…Continue Reading

The Meekness And Humility Of The Lord

March 31, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Meekness And Humility Of The Lord

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Palm Sunday (YR A) Readings: Matt. 21:1-11 Isaiah 50:4-7 Phil. 2:6-11 Matt. 26:14-27:66 Today we remember the remarkable change of perspective that took place among the people between the time Jesus came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and the attitude of the people only five days later as they called for our Lord’s crucifixion. However, in the midst of those changing winds of opinion, what we find is that our Lord’s disposition remained the same. In the first Gospel today, we hear the people crying out “Hosanna to the Son of David. Hosanna in the highest.” We often hear this referred to as the “Triumphal entry into Jerusalem.” However, when we look at what St. Matthew…Continue Reading

The Stations Of The Cross… Follow The Final Earthly Journey Of Christ

March 30, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Stations Of The Cross… Follow The Final Earthly Journey Of Christ

By FR. EDWARD McNAMARA (Editor’s Note: Following is a question on whether or not stations of the cross are liturgical or not, answered by Legionary of Christ Fr. Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university. (Fr. McNamara writes the “Liturgy Q-and-A” column for ZENIT News Agency, which provided this text in 2016. All rights reserved.) + + + Q. Are the stations of the cross liturgical, and who qualifies as the minister? — B.A., Enugu State, Nigeria. A. The stations of the cross are not liturgical as such but fall under the heading of pious exercises. The Holy See’s 2001 Directory for Popular Piety gives the following definition of these exercises: “7. The…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

March 27, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

  Editor’s Note: Fr. George Rutler hit the nail on the head once again in his weekly column at the Church of St. Michael in New York City: Materialism, fantasy, and false worship were the temptations Satan thrust at Christ, and he is tempting our nation the same way. These seductions are a formula for Socialism, which Winston Churchill in 1948 defined as “the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.” A poorly educated generation succumbs to adolescent idealism, bereft of history, unaware that a cult of the state has been a consistent failure, costing countless millions of lives in modern times. State worship was resisted by the earliest Christians, who refused to offer incense…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Grace In The Time Of Coronavirus

March 26, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Grace In The Time Of Coronavirus

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The coronavirus began late last year in China and has now reached our own shores. This after devastating Europe. In Italy now a number of priests and religious as well as hundreds of other elderly have succumbed. All public Masses in many dioceses have been canceled in the wake of public advisories to avoid all unnecessary social contact, perhaps for at least another month. Rome has already announced that Holy Week and Easter services will be livestreamed and the public will not be admitted. Increasing numbers of priests are now livestreaming their daily private Masses. My parish had not explored the possibility previously but we are now doing so, having found it is easy with…Continue Reading

Love God With Your Whole Heart

March 24, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Love God With Your Whole Heart

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fifth Sunday Of Lent (YR A) Readings: Ezek. 37:12-14 Romans 8:8-11 John 11:1-45 In the second reading St. Paul makes the distinction between those who are in the flesh and those who are in the Spirit. By this he is not speaking of those who are alive in the body as opposed to those who are in Purgatory or in Heaven. Rather, the distinction is between those whose focus is on the things of the flesh (worldliness, materialism, sensuality, and son on) and are, thereby, giving themselves over to occasions of sin as contrasted with those who are striving to live a deeper spiritual life and have sought to remove sin from their lives. St. Paul…Continue Reading

God Goes With Us In This Time Of Testing

March 23, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on God Goes With Us In This Time Of Testing

(Editor’s Note: Below we reprint a “Prayer Against Contagious Diseases,” written by Pope St. Zachary, followed by several statements on the coronavirus crisis by leading U.S. bishops.) + + + Prayer Against Contagious Diseases O Cross of Christ, save me. May zeal for your house free me. The Cross conquers; the Cross reigns; the Cross rules; by the sign of the Cross free me, O Lord, from this plague. God, my God, drive this plague away from me, and from this place, and free me. In your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit, my heart, and my body. Before heaven and earth God was; and God is able to liberate me from this plague. The Cross of Christ will…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

March 20, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. In today’s Gospel (Matt. 6:7-15), the text specifically has Jesus stating, “If you forgive men their transgressions…but if you do not forgive men….” The priest at Mass changed “men” to “people” in the first instance and to “them” in the second. I am not sure if this was an intentional effort to conform to the modern concepts of gender neutrality, which I would find especially distasteful as an act of retooling the words of Christ, or if I am simply unaware of various translations that may alter syntax. Can you help? — R.B., Wisconsin. A. The official Gospel reading for that day says “men” in both instances, and the priest should have used the approved translation, regardless of his…Continue Reading