Thursday 28th March 2024

Home » Our Catholic Faith » Recent Articles:

Catholic Replies

May 22, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: Writing in the Sunday bulletin of the Church of St. Michael in New York City, Fr. George W. Rutler talked of the “web of contradiction [that] becomes more entangled in our day when politics are complicated by moral inconsistencies.” He cited three examples: “First, the birth of Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana occasioned celebrations, as the birth of any baby should. During the royal pregnancy, no one referred to the unborn princess as anything other than a baby, and attention was focused on whether the infant was a boy or a girl, and what name would be given. Yet by the laws of the realm, she was a potentially disposable fetus. No one raised the question of the civil…Continue Reading

Truths Beyond Comprehension

May 21, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Truths Beyond Comprehension

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER The Solemnity Of The Most Holy Trinity (YR B) Readings: Deut. 4:32-34, 39-40 Romans 8:14-17 Matt. 28:16-20 In the first reading today, we hear Moses addressing the people of Israel after their Exodus from Egypt and after they had spent much time in the desert. Moses marveled, and rightly so, that God had entered into human history, chosen a people of Himself, and brought them out from another country where they had been slaves. Moses challenges the people: “Did anything so great ever happen?” “Was it ever heard of?” God had intervened personally before in His dealing with Adam, Noah, Abraham, and others. But there had never been such a clear display to so many people…Continue Reading

Pope To The Bishops Of Mozambique . . . “The Paschal Mystery Is The Beating Heart Of The Mission Of The Church”

May 20, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Pope To The Bishops Of Mozambique . . . “The Paschal Mystery Is The Beating Heart Of The Mission Of The Church”

VATICAN CITY (ZENIT) — Pope Francis on May 9 received the bishops of Mozambique who were in Rome for their ad limina visit. + + + Dear brothers in the episcopate! You are welcome ad limina Apostolorum, the purpose of the visit undertaken by you these days, so that with your dioceses in your heart, you also celebrate and strengthen the bonds between you and the Church of Rome that presides in charity. We are one people, with only one soul, convoked by the Lord who loves and sustains us. I receive and greet you with fraternal joy, extending my greetings to Cardinals Alexandre and Julio, to the bishops emeritus, to the diocesan and missionary clergy, to the consecrated men…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Rules Without Relationships Foster Rebellion

May 18, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Rules Without Relationships Foster Rebellion

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK I write this week’s column from Lourdes, France, where I have joined a pilgrimage of 200 wounded warriors, volunteers, family members, military veterans, and chaplains from the United States. Most of us are here through the gift of the Knights of Columbus which has underwritten this magnificent opportunity for prayer, evangelization, fellowship, and renewal of Catholic faith. Our experiences here of Marian spirituality connected with the apparitions of Our Lady to St. Bernadette, it is hoped, will bring needed healing and help to all of us, whether our wounds are spiritual or physical. Our group joins the International Military Pilgrimage to Lourdes, also taking place during our stay at this famous Grotto which is second…Continue Reading

Apologetics Course… How Do We Get To Know The Truth?

May 17, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Apologetics Course… How Do We Get To Know The Truth?

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 2 In the previous article we saw that our minds can apprehend the truth by our own personal experience. Now let us see the three other ways: By simply reasoning. In our days of constant Internet communication, texting, and less personal contact among people, sometimes reasoning is an ability in short supply. But it can be done, of course, and by reasoning we can know the truth. Example: You find a watch in the sand. Immediately you know that someone dropped it there. You know that it did not come out of the sand all ready-made and ticking, let alone that it made itself. No argument from anyone will ever convince you that nobody…Continue Reading

The Church — People of God

May 16, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Church — People of God

By DON FIER The Church, as we saw last week, can rightly be called “the universal sacrament of salvation” because “she is the sign and instrument both of the reconciliation and communion of all of humanity with God and of the unity of the entire human race” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 152). She is the visible channel of grace to the human race. Her vital importance in God’s salvific plan is made manifestly clear in the words of St. Pope John Paul II: “There is no salvation outside the Church. From her alone there flows surely and fully the life-giving force destined, in Christ and His Spirit, to renew the whole of humanity, and therefore…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

May 15, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus strongly opposes the taking of oaths, but what about a person in a courtroom who swears to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? — K.E.R., Connecticut. A. First of all, here are the words of Jesus: “But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil…Continue Reading

Nothing Is Impossible For God

May 14, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Nothing Is Impossible For God

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER The Solemnity Of Pentecost (YR B) Readings: Acts 2:1-11 1 Cor. 12:3b-7, 12-13 John 15:26-27, 16:12-‘15 In the sequence of today’s Mass we hear the beautiful hymn praying for the Holy Spirit to come and to shed a ray of light divine. We hear about the extraordinary manner of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the first reading where people from all around Jerusalem hear the sound of the strong driving wind. As the people gathered, they were astounded to hear the apostles preaching in such a way that each listener heard the preaching in his own native tongue. What we need today is not a spectacular event like the one that took place in…Continue Reading

Pope On Junipero Serra . . . “He Ushered In A New Springtime Of Evangelization”

May 13, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Pope On Junipero Serra . . . “He Ushered In A New Springtime Of Evangelization”

VATICAN CITY (ZENIT) — Following is the Vatican-provided translation of Pope Francis’ May 2 homily during Mass at the Pontifical North American College. The occasion was the Day of Reflection on “Blessed Junipero Serra: Apostle of California, Witness of Sanctity.” Francis said in part: “He ushered in a new springtime of evangelization in those immense territories, extending from Florida to California, which, in the previous 200 years, had been reached by missionaries from Spain. This was long before the Pilgrims of the Mayflower reached the North Atlantic coast.” Prior to embarking on his first apostolic visit to the U.S. in September, Pope Francis said that the canonization of Blessed Junipero Serra, like those of other American saints, speaks to the…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes . . . St. Bede The Venerable

May 12, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Heroes . . . St. Bede The Venerable

By CAROLE BRESLIN In northern England — what is now known as the county of Tyne and Wear — on the Wear River sits St. Peter’s at Monkwearmouth. About seven miles away are the ruins of St. Paul’s Parish, which contain the oldest stained-glass window in the world. Both churches played an important role in the development of Christianity in England, leading them to be selected as a World Heritage Site and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. In the mid-seventh century, Benedict Biscop received some land from Egfrid, king of Northumbria, to build a monastery and church. The monastery, completed in 674, became the major Anglo-Saxon center of learning in northern England. In 678, the Pope — probably Pope Agatho, who…Continue Reading