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Catholic Replies

September 16, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: You may appreciate the following letter from one of our readers: To His Eminence Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, D.C. Your Eminence: With great respect for the blessings and burdens of your sacred office, I earnestly and urgently entreat you to recognize the excommunication of JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., whose words and deeds obdurately traduce the settled teaching of Holy Mother Church, which is to say, the Mind of Christ. He persistently and flagitiously abjures his preeminent baptismal duty to listen to and to obey Christ in and through His Church (Catechism of the Catholic Church, nn. 87, 144, 1269, 2037, 2039, 2044, 2105). His being excommunicated will be, one prays, not only medicine for his spiritually…Continue Reading

Live A Life Of Devotion

September 15, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Live A Life Of Devotion

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR C) Readings: Amos 8:4-7 1 Tim. 2:1-8 Luke 16:1-13 We see in the readings today the challenge of living a truly Christian life. That challenge is not due to the kings and those in authority for whom St. Paul asks that prayers would be offered so that we can live a quiet and tranquil life of devotion and dignity. Rather, the challenge is an internal one that is marked by the need to find the balance between living our faith and living in the world. St. Paul mentions in the second reading that he was appointed preacher and teacher to the Gentiles. In another passage he says that he is…Continue Reading

Cardinal Parolin Gives Thanks For Mother Teresa’s Canonization

September 14, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Cardinal Parolin Gives Thanks For Mother Teresa’s Canonization

VATICAN CITY (ZENIT) — The Pope’s secretary of state, Pietro Cardinal Parolin, on September 5 presided over a Holy Mass of Thanksgiving for Mother Teresa’s canonization. Here is ZENIT’s translation of the text of the homily that Cardinal Parolin pronounced in the course of the celebration. The original was in Italian. + + + Lord Cardinals, Dear Fellow Brothers in the Episcopate and the Presbyterate, Distinguished Authorities, Dear Women and Men Missionaries of Charity Pilgrims and Devotees, Brothers and Sisters in Christ: Today we have returned to St. Peter’s Square, numerous and full of joy, to thank the Lord for the gift of the canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St. Teresa of Calcutta. How many reasons we have to…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… “Let’s All Just Face The Lord As We Should”

September 12, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… “Let’s All Just Face The Lord As We Should”

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK A fissure between some members of the College of Cardinals and the Holy Father has just widened: Raymond Cardinal Burke has come out publicly in support of Robert Cardinal Sarah’s call for a universal return to ad orientem worship. This after it was widely reported that the Pope “slapped down” Cardinal Sarah upon his return to Rome after his clarion for a liturgical recovery of Catholic identity at the July London Sacra Liturgia conference. “Cardinal Burke stands firmly behind Cardinal Sarah’s call for ‘ad orientem’ worship” read a recent headline posted from Rome by LifeSiteNews.com on August 29, 2016. Lisa Bourne wrote the article. The reliably orthodox news source reported that “Cardinal Burke has given…Continue Reading

What Is Faith?… Delving Into The Act Of Faith

September 11, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on What Is Faith?… Delving Into The Act Of Faith

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 2 “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him,” is the categorical teaching of St. Paul (Heb. 11: 6). The first step is to believe that God does exist. We have been through the proofs of God’s existence in previous lessons, to the extent that we can say that we know that there is a God. His existence is not a matter of pious belief, but the result of the unbiased observation of the world around us. Now we are investigating the act of faith, or supernatural faith. Since St. Paul says that without…Continue Reading

Who Can Receive Baptism?

September 10, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Who Can Receive Baptism?

By DON FIER The meaning and grace of the Sacrament of Baptism, as has been demonstrated over the past two weeks, is magnificently revealed through the rite itself. Each step of the solemn ceremony — every word and gesture, every material element which is utilized (water, chrism, white garment, candle) — in some way symbolizes an aspect of the profound reality that is taking place within the soul of the person being baptized. The neophyte, who is spiritually reborn “of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5), is now “clothed in Christ” and has “been given the light of Christ.” Although the Church’s solemn liturgical ceremony for Baptism includes eight steps, “the essential rite of Baptism,” explains the Catechism of the…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

September 9, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: You may appreciate the following letter from one of our readers: To His Eminence Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, D.C. Your Eminence: With great respect for the blessings and burdens of your sacred office, I earnestly and urgently entreat you to recognize the excommunication of JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., whose words and deeds obdurately traduce the settled teaching of Holy Mother Church, which is to say, the Mind of Christ. He persistently and flagitiously abjures his preeminent baptismal duty to listen to and to obey Christ in and through His Church (Catechism of the Catholic Church, nn. 87, 144, 1269, 2037, 2039, 2044, 2105). His being excommunicated will be, one prays, not only medicine for his spiritually…Continue Reading

Reconciliation With God And The Church

September 8, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Reconciliation With God And The Church

By DON FIER As we examined the various forms that penance can take in the Christian life last week, we saw that its authentic expression must always be grounded on interior conversion of heart. The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to this inner transformation as interior penance and defines it as “the movement of a ‘contrite heart’ (Psalm 51:17), drawn by divine grace, to respond the merciful love of God” (n. 300). It involves not only sorrow, but abhorrence of past sins, a firm purpose of amendment, and trust in God’s help and mercy. We also saw last week that the Church, based on Sacred Scripture and the Church fathers, identifies three basic forms of penance:…Continue Reading

Is There Such A Thing As Pure Evil?. . . Here’s What St. Thomas Says

September 7, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Is There Such A Thing As Pure Evil?. . . Here’s What St. Thomas Says

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 of August 28, 2016. All rights reserved.) + + + We human beings are inclined to thinking categorically and absolutely. But not all (or even most) categories are absolute. Is there such a thing as absolute goodness, with no error admixed? Yes, most assuredly. God is so, as are the saints He has perfected in Heaven. But is there such a thing as absolute evil, in which there is no admixture of goodness? St. Thomas Aquinas and others say that there is not. On one level, this is because…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Diocesan Priest Planned Jump To SSPX Before Tragic Death

September 5, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Diocesan Priest Planned Jump To SSPX Before Tragic Death

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Deacons in active service are regularly assigned only by their bishops, as are priests, to parish work. When was the last time you heard of a deacon voluntarily choosing his own parish? It is one of our newest parish members who has done just that. Some of our readers may remember my recent obituary article about the Rev. Mark Ervin, a diocesan priest friend of mine whom I had come to know in just the last few years before his untimely death. We had met for dinner a few times at his rectory where he cooked our dinner on his gas grill. I joked with friends after he died that I was dismayed that he…Continue Reading