Sunday 24th March 2019

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For Lent Make Love Your Motive

March 5, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on For Lent Make Love Your Motive

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER First Sunday Of Lent (YR C) Readings: Deut. 26:4-10 Romans 10:8-13 Luke 4:1-13 Having embarked on the discipline of Lent, the Church puts before us several points of counsel to guide us during this time of grace. Most often when we begin something new, we are very zealous and, therefore, able to carry through with our resolution for a period of time, relying on either emotional energy or stubborn determination. If it is the latter, we may persevere a bit longer, but either way, we will most likely falter and slip back into our familiar way of life. Let’s you have chosen something for Lent that will make a real difference in your life. Giving up…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… The Innocent Are Convicted And The Guilty Go Free?

March 4, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… The Innocent Are Convicted And The Guilty Go Free?

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Two very significant events happened last week for the life of the Church and both are connected by the shattering crisis of the sexual abuse of minors. There are deeper roots that underlie these phenomena, whether admitted or denied, but the two events are the conviction of George Cardinal Pell on charges of sexual abuse of minors and the meeting of the heads of the world’s conferences of bishops with Pope Francis at the Vatican for three days of discussions on the matter. By the way, it was announced immediately after the sexual abuse summit that next October the Holy Father is going to meet for three weeks with the Synod on the Amazon, while…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

March 1, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. I have a family member who married a divorced woman in the 1970s. They divorced after 25 years. Are they still married as far as the Church is concerned? If they wanted to get back together, what would they have to do? — D.L., via e-mail. A. If the woman were divorced when your family member married her in the seventies, then the Church would not recognize that union as a valid marriage since both parties were not free to marry. If they wanted to get back together, they would have to get the divorced person’s first marriage annulled and then go to Confession to get forgiveness for any sins committed in the interim. They should pursue the matter…Continue Reading

In Burkina Faso… Fear Of Jihadists Grows After Murder Of A Priest

February 27, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on In Burkina Faso… Fear Of Jihadists Grows After Murder Of A Priest

By JOHN NEWTON and MARIA LOZANO LONDON (ACN) — The murder of a 72-year-old priest in Burkina Faso has caused panic among a Christian community already besieged by Islamist militia groups. Fr. Jacob Lompo, bursar of Fada N’Gourma Diocese, told the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need that the murder of the Spanish missionary Fr. Antonio Cesar Fernandez by extremists on February 15 has increased fear among the faithful. Speaking about the killing of the priest, he said: “Their vehicle was returning from a meeting in Togo when, just a few kilometers after the frontier, they were ambushed by terrorists who had just murdered four policemen and burned down a customs post. “The armed men stopped the vehicle…Continue Reading

Reflections For Lent’s Beginning

February 26, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Reflections For Lent’s Beginning

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Eighth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR C) Readings: Sirach 27:4-7 1 Cor. 15:54-58 Luke 6:39-45 In the second reading St. Paul talks about the corruptible putting on incorruptibility and what is mortal being clothed in immortality with the result that God gives us the victory of life over death. In the meantime, we are still living with that which is corruptible and we still live in the shadow of death. St. Paul says the sting of death is sin. Death is one of the effects of sin and corruptibility is an effect of death. This being the case, we can say that sin demonstrates the depth of our corruption. However, holiness counters this and demonstrates the…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Defend The Family To Defend The Church

February 25, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Defend The Family To Defend The Church

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Very few Marian apparitions have been approved in the 2,000-year history of the Church. When one is approved, it means only that after exhaustive review the testimony of the seers and the witnesses has not yielded anything contrary to the Deposit of Faith. No Catholic is obliged to heed or subscribe to the messages transmitted thereby as the content is private revelation. Fatima is one of the few approved apparitions and Sr. Lucia is the primary visionary among the three shepherd children to whom our Lady appeared in 1917. The Russian Revolution was two months old when Mary, whom the children only knew as “a beautiful Lady,” first shared with them her message from Heaven…Continue Reading

The Authority Of Bishops… Answering Objections Leveled Against The Priesthood

February 24, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Authority Of Bishops… Answering Objections Leveled Against The Priesthood

  By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 9 In this article we respond to objections against the Catholic priesthood. The first and most common objection is: “The words ‘priest’ and ‘bishop’ are not in the Bible.” Reply: It is amazing how the objections coming from Protestants — and even from some superficial Catholics — are so inconsistent. Every Protestant believes in the Incarnation of the Word of God, and yet the word “Incarnation” is not in the Bible. Every Protestant believes in the Trinity, and yet the word “Trinity” is not in the Bible. Every Protestant believes in the Bible, and yet the word “Bible” is not in the Bible. No Bible writer has ever stated that for a concept…Continue Reading

The Theological Virtues — Charity

February 23, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Theological Virtues — Charity

  By DON FIER As we reflected last week on Pope Benedict XVI’s brilliant critique of the crisis of hope in the modern world as set forth in his 2007 encyclical Spe Salvi (SS), we saw that for many, “hope in the Kingdom of God has been displaced by hope in the kingdom of man, the hope of a better world which would be the real ‘Kingdom of God’” (SS, n. 30). The former Vicar of Christ shows compellingly the truth of words spoken by St. Paul, that those whose hope is “for this life only…are of all men most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). Hope for a secular utopia is always destined to inevitably leave its adherents disillusioned,…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

February 22, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. My seven-year-old son came home from Religious Education class and asked me if he had been Jewish before he was baptized a Catholic. What would you have answered? — M.C., Massachusetts. A. We would have said that he was not Jewish, but rather was a person made in the image and likeness of God and, when he was baptized, he became a child of God. According to the Baltimore Catechism, Question 315, “Baptism is the sacrament that gives our souls the new life of sanctifying grace by which we become children of God and heirs of heaven.” Question 316 says that “Baptism takes away original sin; and also actual sin and all the punishment due to them, if the…Continue Reading

Cardinal Mueller Issues Manifesto . . . A Quasi Correction Of Pope Francis’ Pontificate

February 20, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Cardinal Mueller Issues Manifesto . . . A Quasi Correction Of Pope Francis’ Pontificate

By JOHN-HENRY WESTEN and MAIKE HICKSON (LifeSiteNews) — Gerhard Cardinal Mueller, the former head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, has released a Manifesto which reads like a correction of many of the doctrinal errors Pope Francis has taught during his tenure as Pope. The cardinal intended to release the manifesto on February 10. That date is the eve of the anniversary of Pope Benedict’s announcement in 2013 that he would abdicate his papal office, as well as the eve of the cardinal’s own Ordination to the priesthood. However, a Polish website broke the embargo and thus the document was released February 8. Pope Francis removed Cardinal Mueller from his post as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith…Continue Reading