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Divine Mercy And Justice

August 24, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Divine Mercy And Justice

By Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke Part 2 (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke delivered the address below at the Consecration Weekend, The Marian Catechist Apostolate, Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse, Wis., July 23, 2016. Because of its length, we are publishing it in two parts; part 1 appeared in last week’s issue. And also because of its length, we omitted the footnotes. This text is reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.) + + + Divine Mercy And Justice According To Aquinas Having this fundamental teaching of the Sacred Scriptures before his mind, St. Thomas Aquinas explains how justice and mercy are related and indeed united. He points out that there are two basic kinds of…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Moral Outrages Mount While Bishops Snooze

August 22, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Moral Outrages Mount While Bishops Snooze

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The U.S. bishops’ conference is a leadership disaster. Joe Biden presiding over the marital simulation ceremony of two men who work in the Obama administration was the latest unanswered provocation to assail the American portion of the Body of Christ. Vice President Biden has completely sold-out on Church teaching. He enthusiastically promoted the rainbow revolution by speaking out in violation of God’s plan for marriage, in effect pushing the whole administration over into the “marriage equality” lobby. He sported a multicolored flag over his shoulders at the White House, symbolic of his enthusiastic celebration of the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision. And Biden is totally in bed with Planned Parenthood, the national federally funded abortion-mill chain…Continue Reading

The Marvel Of The Catholic Church . . . The Historicity Of The Old And New Testaments

August 21, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Marvel Of The Catholic Church . . . The Historicity Of The Old And New Testaments

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA Part 14 Is the Book of Genesis historical or simply allegorical? Many have spent hours and days and years trying to prove one view or the other, as if God our Lord left to individuals the ability to decide about it. The truth is that some things are historical and some things are allegorical and some things are a combination of both. To distinguish between them is a decision ultimately falling at the threshold of the Church’s Magisterium. The Church listens to theologians, consider their different viewpoints and arguments, and may define or not define the issue, if she believes it is important to the salvation of souls at a given point in time. Sometimes she…Continue Reading

The Baptism Of Jesus

August 20, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Baptism Of Jesus

By DON FIER Much that regards Christianity and the Catholic faith we profess to believe is prefigured in the Old Covenant; signs and shadows which prepared the way for the New Testament abound throughout the pages of the Old. And as we saw last week, this is especially true for the Sacrament of Baptism: “[In] water, seen as source of life and death; in the Ark of Noah, which saved by means of water; in the passing through the Red Sea, which liberated Israel from Egyptian slavery; in the crossing of the Jordan River, that brought Israel into the promised land which is the image of eternal life” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 253). Indeed, the…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

August 19, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. At the time when Moses received the Ten Commandments from God, was the original intent of the Fifth Commandment to be a proscription against murder? — P.C., California. A. We would say yes. Beginning with the murder of Abel by his brother Cain long before Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, God had told His Chosen People to avoid the willful killing of innocent persons. In the account of this first murder, says the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 2259), “God declares the wickedness of this fratricide: ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its…Continue Reading

Gifts From God

August 18, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Gifts From God

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Second Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR C) Readings: Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29 Heb. 12:18-19, 22-24a Luke 14:1, 7-14 In the first reading today the Wise Man tells us that we should conduct our affairs with humility and we will be loved by other people. He goes on to say that the greater we are the more we need to humble ourselves; this disposition will find favor with God. Humility is truth. So Sirach is not asking anyone to deny the truth about themselves.; this would be false humility. After all, Sirach speaks about those who are greater, so some people have a higher position or greater ability than others. They are not to deny these facts,…Continue Reading

Divine Mercy And Justice

August 17, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Divine Mercy And Justice

By Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke Part 1 (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke delivered the address below at the Consecration Weekend, The Marian Catechist Apostolate, Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse, Wis., July 23, 2016. Because of its length, we are publishing it in two parts, with part 2 appearing in next week’s issue. And also because of its length, we omitted the footnotes. This text is reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.) + + + Pope Francis has recently published a book-length interview which is being distributed in six languages in more than 80 countries with the title: The Name of God Is Mercy. This publication and its wide distribution manifest how divine mercy is…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World . . . Traditional Mass Plays A Needed Prophetic Role

August 15, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World . . . Traditional Mass Plays A Needed Prophetic Role

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Prophets aren’t popular. Prophets are not liked. Prophets are sometimes put to death. The Holy Land is littered with the tombs of the prophets. The Lord Himself alluded to this when He excoriated the leaders of the Chosen People for decorating these tombs, once the voices of the prophets themselves had been stilled, while rejecting the voice of divine prophecy itself in Him. “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; that build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the monuments of the just, And say: If we had been in the days of our Fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore you are witnesses against…Continue Reading

The Marvel Of The Catholic Church… The Difficulties Of Biblical Interpretation

August 14, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Marvel Of The Catholic Church… The Difficulties Of Biblical Interpretation

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 13 Luther claimed that all Christians can correctly interpret the Bible without the need of Popes, councils, or bishops, because the Holy Spirit Himself will guide the devout Christian in his Bible-reading. It did sound nice in the beginning, but soon contradictory interpretations appeared and today we have tens of thousands of individual churches, sects, and denominations, all claiming to have the correct interpretation, Bible in hand. Unless you accuse the Holy Spirit of suffering from a kind of schizophrenia, inspiring different people to reach different and contradictory conclusions, which is highly unlikely or rather impossible, then we must necessarily conclude that it is people who have interpreted the Bible according to their subjective…Continue Reading

Old Testament Prefigurations Of Baptism

August 13, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Old Testament Prefigurations Of Baptism

By DON FIER When a newborn infant enters this world, he or she normally bursts onto the scene with the fullness of natural life, with all the sense faculties and capabilities (e.g., to see, hear, feel, etc.) in varying degrees of development. On the supernatural level, however, the newly born child is devoid of divine life as a consequence of original sin, the common heritage of all human persons (excepting our Lady) due to the disobedience of our first parents. Satisfaction for the infinite debt incurred by Adam, the forefather of all mankind, was made by God Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ when He freely submitted to His ignominious death on the cross. To avail each individual the…Continue Reading