Wednesday 17th August 2022

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Catholic Replies

July 29, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. WOW, your answer to my question about my 17-year-old granddaughter’s attire in Church really caused a rift in my family. Your answer was viewed by some as being uncharitable and un-Christlike. Her mother said her daughter cried and suffered some mental stress about being called a “hooker.” Her father said your advice to stay home from church is to commit a grave mortal sin by not attending Mass. I am caught in the middle of all this for having broached the question to you. Might you, upon reflection, have answered the question differently? – A.G., via e-mail.A. Okay, perhaps our reply was too strongly worded. But we’re tired of seeing people in church who have no apparent respect for…Continue Reading

On Choosing The Good News

July 28, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on On Choosing The Good News

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK I’ve taken to walking for exercise at night to avoid the intense and damaging rays of the summer sun lately. On my outings, I typically see very few others outside also taking advantage of the clement evening weather. Perhaps one or two individuals at most. Often I find myself somewhat eerily alone. There are many good ways to spend free time, but I believe research would bear out my thesis that many spend a large portion of their day away from work in front of screens.There will always be bad news. Thanks to our ever-present devices and Internet we can treat ourselves to a steady stream of negativity all day long every day. That is…Continue Reading

The Priority Of Personal Prayer

July 27, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Priority Of Personal Prayer

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this article on July 16. It is reprinted here with permission.) + + Today’s Gospel at Mass is the very familiar one of Martha and Mary. Martha is the anxious worker seeking to please the Lord with a good meal and hospitality. Mary sits quietly at his feet and listens. One has come to be the image of work, the other of prayer.Misinterpreted? In my fifty-two years I have heard many a sermon that interpreted this Gospel passage as a call for a proper balance between work and prayer. Some have gone on to state that we all need a little of Martha and Mary in us and that the…Continue Reading

Vanity Of Vanities

July 25, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Vanity Of Vanities

BY FR. ROBERT ALTIER Eighteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR C) Readings: Eccl. 1:2, 2:21-23Col. 3:1-5, 9-11Luke 12:13-21 In the first reading today we hear from a man who calls himself Qoheleth, the son of King David. Traditionally, this has been understood to refer to Solomon because of the wisdom that comes up frequently in the book. The name Qoheleth means a preacher or a teacher, but in the present context it might be better understood as a collector of sayings. The concept of a collector of sayings is suggested because most of the Book of Ecclesiastes is not written in first person; the author refers to himself only in the very beginning of the book and at the very…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

July 22, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This series on Apologetics is based on the book Catholicism & Reason. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. You can send them either to the postal mailing address or to the email address below, and we will interrupt this series to answer them. Special Course On Catholicism And Reason (Chapter 22) Mary is not only the mother of Jesus, but also Mother of the Catholic Church. It was Pope St. Paul VI who gave her that latter title during the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). While non-Catholics do not understand why Catholics have such a devotion to Mary (we venerate and…Continue Reading

Terrorism Inside The Womb And Out

July 21, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Terrorism Inside The Womb And Out

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK To a long and growing list of terrorist attacks on churches and prolife pregnancy centers, we now add one in my own Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.Following the Supreme Court Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, a cause for rejoicing, we learned that evil individuals were threatening violence in response. This violence soon found its outlet in attacks that included vandalism of pro-life centers all over the country and the burning of a historic West Virginia church to the ground, among others.In the week in which I am writing this, someone broke on a Saturday night into a Catholic parish in the D.C. suburb of Bethesda, turning over statues, tearing down Stations of the Cross, setting…Continue Reading

St. Gregory . . . On The Balance Of Love And Correction

July 20, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on St. Gregory . . . On The Balance Of Love And Correction

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this article on July 11. It is reprinted here with permission.) + + Applying salutary discipline, and balancing it with necessary consolations and encouragement is never an easy task. It is possible that parents can be too severe on their children, such that they become disheartened, and lack necessary self-esteem. But it is also possible that parents can be too lax such that their children become spoiled and lack proper self-discipline and humility.Hence Scripture seeking to balance teaching with encouragement says, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).Pastors too in their leadership of parishes need also to…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes . . . St. John Houghton, Protomartyr

July 19, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Heroes . . . St. John Houghton, Protomartyr

By DEB PIROCH The Carthusians were a medieval order that King Henry II brought over to England as part of his penance for the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket. They were widely esteemed and when St. Thomas More was discerning his way in life, and studying law and passing the bar, he spent four years of his life living with the Carthusians. This informed his habits and conscience beautifully, rising at 2 a.m. and praying an adapted Liturgy of the Hours, in addition to the Divine Office, and the Psalms.Likely much of this carried into his secular life, where he built a chapel as soon as he was able, ending days with family prayer, and secretly wearing a hair shirt…Continue Reading

Live The Lord’s Prayer

July 18, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Live The Lord’s Prayer

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Seventeenth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR C) Readings: Gen. 18:20-32Col. 2:12-14Luke 11:1-13 In the Gospel reading today we are presented with St. Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer (we normally pray the version from St. Matthew’s Gospel). Regardless of which version we consider, the critical issue for each of us is whether or not we truly believe what we pray. It is so easy with vocal prayers, once memorized, to just say the words without really thinking about what, or to whom, we are praying.We begin by addressing God as our Father. Do you see Him that way? Do you have a relationship with Him that is appropriate for a son or a daughter? Everything that…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

July 15, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. Was James, the “brother of the Lord,” mentioned in Gal. 1:19, an apostle, a bishop, or cousin of Jesus? Did he head the early Church alongside St. Peter? – D.H., Iowa.A. This James was not one of the Twelve Apostles, but he was the first bishop of the Catholic community in Jerusalem and was martyred there in AD 62. He played a major role at the decision of the Council of Jerusalem in AD 49, which concluded that Gentiles did not have to observe Jewish practices before becoming Christians.This James was probably one of the four “brothers” of Jesus mentioned in Matt. 13:55. They were children of another Mary, who is described in John 19:25 as the “wife of…Continue Reading