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What Is Faith?. . . Investigating The First Theological Virtue

September 4, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on What Is Faith?. . . Investigating The First Theological Virtue

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 1 In this article we move from the Bible to the first theological virtue, which we received at Baptism: faith. It will take a little study to delve into this matter, because it has a theological nature, unlike other topics we’ve dealt with. So, take a deep breath, say a Hail Mary, relax a bit, and let us enter the world of theology. . . . We begin by defining faith: It is a divine virtue whereby we believe the truths God has revealed to us, not because of our natural reason, but by the authority of God, who can neither deceive nor be deceived. It is not like the belief in God’s existence,…Continue Reading

The Essential Rite Of The Sacrament Of Baptism

September 3, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Essential Rite Of The Sacrament Of Baptism

By DON FIER As we launched into our consideration of the mystagogy surrounding the Church’s liturgical expression of Baptism last week, we saw that “the meaning and grace of the sacrament…are clearly seen in the rites of its celebration. By following the gestures and words of this celebration with attentive participation, the faithful are initiated into the riches this sacrament signifies and actually brings about in each newly baptized person” (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], n. 1234). The eight major elements of the baptismal ceremony are full of meaning — each assists us in penetrating more deeply into the hidden spiritual reality that takes place during the conferral of this foundational sacrament of initiation, which is necessary for salvation.…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

September 2, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. In my view our Catholic bishops are endangering their own souls and those of countless thousands by being essentially mute regarding the upcoming election on the subjects of abortion and same-sex marriage. There should be a brief statement to the media to the effect that voting for a politician that is pro the above abominations would put the soul of the voter at risk. In my parish, the bishop had a letter read to that effect. However, he is reaching only about 25 percent of Catholics who attend weekly Sunday Mass in this county. Your comments please. — R.B.K., Virginia. A. Let us share instead some comments from the blog of Msgr. Charles Pope of the Archdiocese of Washington,…Continue Reading

Repent And Believe In The Gospel

September 1, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Repent And Believe In The Gospel

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Fourth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR C) Readings: Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14 1 Tim. 1:12-17 Luke 15:1-32 In the second reading today St. Paul says that this saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. St. Mark begins his Gospel by summarizing the whole of our Lord’s message as being “repent and believe in the Gospel.” Not only do we have numerous examples of people who turned their lives around through faith in Jesus, but we have our Lord telling us in the Gospel reading today that there is more rejoicing in Heaven over one repentant sinner than over 99 righteous people who have no need to repent. Now,…Continue Reading

Interview With Postulator . . . Most People Can Still Learn A Lot About Mother Teresa

August 31, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Interview With Postulator . . . Most People Can Still Learn A Lot About Mother Teresa

By KATHLEEN NAAB (Editor’s Note: In this interview, Fr. Brian Kolodiejchuk, MC, Mother Teresa’s postulator, tells ZENIT writer Kathleen Naab that thousands of testimonies attest that Mother is still doing work on Earth from her post in Heaven. (Pope Francis will canonize Mother Teresa on September 4. (ZENIT News Agency published this interview on August 22. All rights reserved.) + + + When a saint is as well known as Mother Teresa, it is perhaps easy to think, “Ah yes, we are familiar with her. We already know what she has to teach us.” This assumption is quite incorrect, according to the postulator of her cause and editor of several works about Mother Teresa, Fr. Brian Kolodiejchuk, MC. Fr. Kolodiejchuk…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World . . . Turning Together Toward The Lord

August 29, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World . . . Turning Together Toward The Lord

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The closed circle of therapeutic navel-gazing hangs on like an overused joke in a few places yet, one of them being the Church. The priest and people facing each other during the entire liturgy is a vestige of the illegitimate seizure by and subjection of 2,000-year-old liturgical development to the rash agenda of primitivist vandals in the post-Vatican period. The only thing this unscholarly lot left undone was to demand the liturgy be celebrated in Aramaic. More and more young people are making a buzz about ad orientem worship, in a renewed push to recover the sacred and cast off the tired and broken stereotypes of the 1960s. One of the places where this buzz…Continue Reading

The Marvel Of The Catholic Church . . . The Four Senses Of Sacred Scripture

August 28, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Marvel Of The Catholic Church . . . The Four Senses Of Sacred Scripture

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA Part 15 Since the first heresies attacked the early Church, and all the way up to Luther and to the ecclesiastical dissenters of our days, Bible interpretation has been a source of division. Ever since the Devil concocted the idea that every Tom, Dick, and Harriet could interpret the Bible allegedly by the “light of the Holy Spirit,” sects have multiplied like rodents. Once you ignore the Magisterium of the Church of Jesus Christ and trust in your own discernment, you are bound to navigate your boat without a rudder and hit the rocks on the wrong shore. Many times dissenters have taken a text out of context in order to create an argument against the…Continue Reading

The Mystagogy Of The Celebration Of Baptism

August 27, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Mystagogy Of The Celebration Of Baptism

By DON FIER The baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River marked a turning-point in His life. Having lived in a hidden manner in obedience to Mary and Joseph for thirty years (see Luke 2:51), our Lord now began His public ministry by freely submitting to the penitential baptism of St. John the Baptist. Although unblemished by sin and in no need of repentance, He did so in order to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15). Just as the incarnate Son of God submitted to circumcision, entering into the covenant established by God with Abraham and all his descendants (see Luke 2:21), and just as He was consecrated to God in the Temple in accordance with Mosaic Law (see Luke 2:23),…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

August 26, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. Can you possibly provide the name and e-mail address of the bishop of the “renowned” Catholic Vice President Joe Biden? This latest mockery of his faith — officiating at the “marriage” of two men — cries for some type of action from the shepherd of his flock. I would like to be able to communicate my concern to the bishop concerning the scandal exhibited by his action or lack thereof. — J.N.B., via e-mail. A. Vice President Biden, who brazenly boasted of his attempt to “marry” two male White House staffers, attends Mass in Washington, D.C., where Donald Cardinal Wuerl is the archbishop, and also falls under the jurisdiction of the Most Rev. Francis Malooly, the bishop in Wilmington,…Continue Reading

Prepare For Eternal Life

August 25, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Prepare For Eternal Life

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Third Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR C) Readings: Wisdom 9:13-18b Phmn. 9-10, 12-17 Luke 14:25-33 In the first reading the question is asked about who can know God’s counsel or conceive what the Lord intends. We know that God’s ways are not our ways; we know that God looks into the heart while we look at appearances. So we see that the way God looks at things is somewhat the opposite of the way we look at the same things. All too often people try to push our human ways and ideas onto God. One can think about these people on TV who preach the “Gospel of health and wealth.” On one hand, this is a…Continue Reading