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God Comes To Meet Man

October 11, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on God Comes To Meet Man

By DON FIER Last week, a topic was taken up that was immediately addressed in the first chapter of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC): man’s capacity to know God by reason alone. It was demonstrated in two basic, commonsense ways that “by natural reason man can know God with certainty, on the basis of His works” (CCC, n. 50). The supporting arguments focused around what we can directly observe or easily discern in two of God’s most magnificent works of creation, “the physical world and the human person” (CCC, n. 31). This week, we will turn our attention to “another order of knowledge, which man cannot possibly arrive at by his own powers: the order of Divine Revelation” (CCC,…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

October 10, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. We read in the Gospels that Jesus cured Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever. This means he must have been married. So if the first Pope were married, why can’t priests marry today? — E.C., Florida. A. That Peter had a mother-in-law is not disputed, and that Jesus cured her of a fever is explicitly stated in Matt. 8:14-15 and Luke 4:38-39 (some wise guy has said that’s why Peter denied Jesus three times, because He had cured his mother-in-law!). However, as Karl Keating has pointed out, it seems odd that the Gospel account doesn’t mention Peter’s wife. “Leaving her out of the story is strange,” says Keating on the Catholic Answers website. “It is not the way a writer…Continue Reading

The Image Of God

October 9, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Image Of God

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Ninth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 45:1, 4-6 Thess. 1:1-5b Matt. 22:15-21   In the Gospel reading today our Lord confounds the Pharisees and the Herodians by telling them to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to give to God what is God’s. It was somewhat simple to point out what belonged to Caesar because his image and his inscription were on the coin. One could argue about whether or not Caesar had the right to anything else or even how much of the money was rightfully his just because his face was on it. It is equally simple to discern, using the same parameters, what belongs to God. All we need…Continue Reading

Orthodox-Catholic Commission… Decries Persecution Of Christians, Calls For Solidarity

October 8, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Orthodox-Catholic Commission… Decries Persecution Of Christians, Calls For Solidarity

AMMAN, Jordan (ZENIT) — Here is the statement at the conclusion of the 13th Plenary Session of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue Between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. The meeting was held September 15-23 in Amman, Jordan. The commission is continuing its discussions on synodality and primacy. + + + The 13th meeting of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church was held from September 15 to 23, 2014 in Amman, Jordan, a city with a long history related to the roots of Christianity. The meeting was generously and fraternally hosted by His Beatitude Theophilos III, patriarch of Jerusalem. Twenty-three Catholic members were present; a…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Cardinal Kasper’s Vacation From Reason

October 6, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Cardinal Kasper’s Vacation From Reason

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK He who vacates reason cannot inhabit faith. The Synod on the Family is getting underway in Rome and speculation in regard to its outcome continues to build. Change agents continue to agitate for admitting the divorced and civilly married to sacramental Communion. Media sources have been very successful in stringing along a “trend” by which they appoint themselves players in the news cycle while creating further confusion about the real nature of Catholic faith and sacramental practice. They continue to suggest that the decision to change the Church’s practice of not admitting the divorced and civilly remarried to sacramental Communion has all but been officially decreed. Events of the past few months recall the fury…Continue Reading

Debunking The Sola Scripture Myth

October 5, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Debunking The Sola Scripture Myth

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 1 “I am convinced by the Scriptures!” shouted Martin Luther, as he unleashed his revolution against the Church of Rome. A great many people followed him to make a new church, officially based upon the Scriptures alone, with neither Popes nor councils. But people did not read the fine print in Luther’s revolt: “I am convinced by the Scriptures . . . as I interpret them.” Officially, Sacred Scripture was to be open to all Christians and consequently no teaching Magisterium was necessary or even allowed: Each and every Christian became able to read the sacred text and interpret it correctly. The Holy Spirit would make sure of that, we’re told. No Popes, councils,…Continue Reading

Man’s Capacity For God

October 4, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Man’s Capacity For God

By Don Fier Having considered the Prologue of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) in our previous installment, we will now turn our attention to the first of the Catechism’s four pillars: “The Profession of Faith.” It is the longest section of the CCC, comprising 39% of its total volume, and is foundational for the rest, for it is essential to know God and what He has done before we consider how man can and ought to respond. As is the case for each of the four major parts of the CCC, it is composed of two sections. The first, as expressed by Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, “lays…the foundation of the subject, while the second further develops the particular themes…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

October 3, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: Fr. George Rutler, pastor of the Church of St. Michael in New York City, has offered a scathing criticism of the blasé attitude of many Americans to the “genocide of Christians” in the Middle East. Writing in his September 14 parish bulletin, Fr. Rutler said: “We are now engaged in a war, whether or not some politicians hesitate to call it that, and it must have priority over all other interests. The war is being fought by enemies of God, deluded by the conceit that they are fighting for God. This is so hard for an indulged and selfish culture to accept, inasmuch as it means acknowledging that good and evil exist, though many would prefer to ignore…Continue Reading

Our Lord Destroyed Death

October 2, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Our Lord Destroyed Death

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Eighth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 25:6-10a Phil. 4:12-14, 19-20 Matt. 22:1-14 In the first reading today God tells us through the Prophet Isaiah that He will destroy the veil that veils all people; He will destroy death forever. He says that this will take place on His holy mountain. This can be understood in two ways. The first way to understand this is that the mountain is the one known as Zion, in other words, the mountain where Jerusalem is built. It was on this mountain that Abraham took Isaac when he was going to offer his son to the Lord. Instead, God intervened and provided a ram for the sacrifice. Along…Continue Reading

Reparation For Black Mass . . . “The Chaotic Forces Of Evil Are Very Real”

October 1, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Reparation For Black Mass . . . “The Chaotic Forces Of Evil Are Very Real”

By MOST REV. PAUL COAKLEY (Editor’s Note: The black mass took place as scheduled Sunday, September 21 in Oklahoma City’s Civic Center. Various news outlets reported that hundreds protested against the black mass while only dozens attended it. Below we reprint Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley’s September 18 statement, followed by his homily at the holy hour held shortly before the black mass. A procession to the Civic Center took place after the holy hour. (ZENIT News Agency provided the text of Archbishop Coakley’s holy hour homily.) + + + The Hour Has Come On Sunday, September 21, a local satanic sect apparently will be allowed to conduct a public act of blasphemy in the form of a so-called black…Continue Reading