Friday 29th March 2024

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Who Am I Not To Judge?… Correcting The Sinner Is An Essential Work Of Charity

July 5, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Who Am I Not To Judge?… Correcting The Sinner Is An Essential Work Of Charity

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope is the pastor of Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian, Washington, D.C. Monsignor kindly gave The Wanderer permission to reprint this essay from his blog. All rights reserved.) + + + In the Gospel for Monday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time, there is a Scripture passage that is almost too well known. I say this because the world has wielded it like a club to swing at Christians. The text is quoted almost as if it represented the entirety of the Bible’s teaching; it is often used to shut down discussions of what is right vs. wrong, what is virtuous vs. sinful. Even many Christians misinterpret the passage as a mandate to…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… On The Occasion Of My Navy Retirement

July 3, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… On The Occasion Of My Navy Retirement

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK On June 29 I was grateful for the presence of family, friends, military colleagues from assignments in Naples, Iraq, and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, and parishioners and faithful at the ceremony marking my military retirement. Admiral Stanley (Ret.) and his wife Jean, commanders including my current skipper Commander Newbrough and previous skipper Captain Viado. Captain chaplains, including my chaplain school classmate and Camp Lejeune colleague Chaplain Moger. Commanders who have transitioned as I did from active component to Reserve, including CDRs Doye and Pizanti and their families whom I came to know aboard the IKE and at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The ceremony was held in the chapel of what was once called…Continue Reading

Our Savior And Redeemer… How Are The Fruits Of Redemption Applied?

July 2, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Our Savior And Redeemer… How Are The Fruits Of Redemption Applied?

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 14 When Jesus our Redeemer ascended into Heaven, His visible mission here on Earth came to an end. The work of redemption was complete, once and for all. But He did not call Martin Luther to teach the people how to be “saved,” as a cartoon on Facebook depicted Christ saying to him: “You are Luther, and upon this Luther I will build my Church 1,500 years from now.” No, He founded the Church, His Mystical Body, upon the Rock of Peter, in order to distribute the fruits of His redemption among men across the centuries until the Parousia, when He would come again to judge the living and the dead. And here is…Continue Reading

Acts Of The Penitent — Auricular Confession

July 1, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Acts Of The Penitent — Auricular Confession

By DON FIER We saw last week that worthy reception of the Sacrament of Penance requires three acts on the part of the repentant sinner, which together constitute the matter of the sacrament: contrition, confession, and satisfaction. Of the three, “contrition occupies the first place” (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], n. 1451) and is an indispensable condition for the forgiveness of sins. In volume 3 of Fundamentals of Catholicism (FoC-3), Fr. Kenneth Baker, SJ, defines contrition as “sincere sorrow for having offended God, hatred for the sins we have committed, and a firm purpose of sinning no more. Thus a true act of contrition is composed of three acts of the will which form a unity: sorrow, hatred of…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

June 30, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. My son bought me a book for Father’s Day that I was not aware of, and I wondered if you are aware of it. It is by Rodney Stark and is entitled Bearing False Witness: Debunking Centuries of Anti-Catholic History. I understand that he is not a Catholic. — D.M., Virginia. A. Yes, we have read the book and it is great, not only because Professor Stark (he is co-director of the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University) does such a persuasive job of debunking longtime anti-Catholic myths, but also because, as a non-Catholic, he cannot be accused of covering up the truth about Catholicism. “I did not write this book in defense of the Church,” he…Continue Reading

Meek And Humble Of Heart

June 29, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Meek And Humble Of Heart

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fourteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Zech. 9:9-10 Romans 8:9, 11-13 Matt. 11:25-30 In the Gospel reading today Jesus praises His Father in Heaven because what He has hidden from the wise and the learned, He has revealed to the little ones. While this makes the point, the Greek actually says that Jesus gave thanks to His Father because what He has hidden from the wise and the intelligent people He has revealed to infants. This sounds demeaning to us, especially coming from a society where education has been so important and the thought of calling someone an infant is an insult. We have to see things from a different perspective, however. First of…Continue Reading

The Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum… The Wanderer Interviews Fr. Kenneth Baker, SJ

June 28, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum… The Wanderer Interviews Fr. Kenneth Baker, SJ

By CHRISTOPHER MANION (Editor’s Note: The Wanderer first published this two-part article on Summorum Pontificum on July 19 and 26, 2007, and we are reprinting it here in view of the upcoming ten-year anniversary of Pope Benedict’s landmark motu proprio, which allowed priests to say the Traditional Rite of the Mass without asking for permission. (Part one of this interview appeared in last week’s issue and we conclude it with the article below.) + + + Part 2 Last week, The Wanderer featured an interview with Fr. Kenneth Baker, SJ, regarding Pope Benedict’s letter to his brother bishops explaining his reasons for issuing the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. This week’s portion of the interview deals with the text of the…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… The Tridentine Mass Grows In Appeal

June 26, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… The Tridentine Mass Grows In Appeal

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK A recent appeal from a high-ranking enlisted member of the military for acceptance of exclusively Traditional priests, such as from the Fraternity of St. Peter, to serve as military chaplains was met with rejection. The subsequent headlines characterized the exchange as “Better No Chaplains Than Traditional Ones.” This reaction unfairly analyzes the practical effect of such a decision. It would have been better called: “Better Fewer Chaplains Who Can Do the Work at Hand Than a Few More Who Can Only Do Part of It.” The fact is that the New Mass still has plenty of clientele and they have rank and numbers in the military. Their needs must be satisfied and any priest sent…Continue Reading

Our Savior And Redeemer… The Ascension And Pentecost

June 25, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Our Savior And Redeemer… The Ascension And Pentecost

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Those people who believe in the Lutheran myth of “sola Scriptura” have a big problem to solve. They cannot explain the fact that Jesus spent forty days with His apostles, teaching them, reminding them of what He had taught them before, and preparing them for their mission, but there is absolutely nothing written in the Bible about that mountain of teaching. What did He say? That is why St. John says that if all of Jesus’ signs and teachings were to be recorded, the whole world would not be able to contain the books that could be written. . . . So, after that crash course on Catholic apologetics that He gave to the apostles,…Continue Reading

Acts Of The Penitent — Contrition

June 24, 2017 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Acts Of The Penitent — Contrition

By DON FIER As we briefly surveyed the history of the sacrament of Penance last week, we saw that significant changes in its outward form took place over the course of the centuries. In her first years, the Church experienced remarkable growth despite facing great persecution — it was a time of many martyrs. “The early Christians,” explains Dr. Alan Schreck, “took seriously the teaching of Paul about becoming a new creation when baptized. It was expected that a baptized person had the grace to avoid serious sin” (The Essential Catholic Catechism, p. 243). The exercise of the power to forgive sins that was bestowed by Christ upon the apostles and their successors was reserved for those guilty of very…Continue Reading