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Mary’s Perpetual Virginity . . . Did Joseph Know Her As A Husband Knows His Wife?

April 20, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Mary’s Perpetual Virginity . . . Did Joseph Know Her As A Husband Knows His Wife?

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 3 “And he [Joseph] did not know her till she brought forth her firstborn son. And he called his name Jesus” — Matt. 1:25. It seems pretty evident for those non-Catholic Christians who disagree with Luther and Zwingli on the issue of Mary’s perpetual virginity that, after the birth of Jesus, Mary would have had other children in due course. Again, the argument is fallacious and inconclusive. And it is very simple to demonstrate it. The great Bible scholar St. Jerome (fourth century), who translated the whole Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin, was the first to answer it. The words till, and until, reflect a manner of speaking, usual among the Hebrews,…Continue Reading

Catechism Of the Catholic Church: Prologue

April 19, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catechism Of the Catholic Church: Prologue

By Don Fier “Father, . . . this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ” (John 17:3). This Scripture verse, the opening words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), succinctly and beautifully expresses its very purpose. The CCC’s first paragraph goes on to expand on this teaching of Jesus Christ: “God, . . . in a plan of sheer goodness, freely created man to make him share in His own blessed life. . . . He calls man to seek Him, to know Him, to love Him with all his strength. To accomplish this, . . . God sent His Son as Redeemer and Savior.”…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

April 18, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. I read every issue of The Wanderer, including the reports on the lives of the saints by Carole Breslin, which I find to be most interesting. Do you know if the Catholic heroes of which she writes are published in a book? If so, I would like to have two copies. — R.D., Pennsylvania. A. Carole Breslin’s biographical sketches of the saints are indeed most interesting, but they have not yet been collected in book form. We are sure that she will inform Wanderer readers of such a book if one is published in the future. Q. I have a question about the appropriateness of a layperson reading the Gospel at Mass. At the parish I attend here in…Continue Reading

Rich In Mercy

April 17, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Rich In Mercy

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Divine Mercy Sunday (YR A) Readings: Acts 2:42-47 1 Peter 3:1-9 John 20:19-31 In the second reading today St. Peter praises God who, in His mercy, has given us a new birth to a living hope from the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. God sent His only-begotten Son into the world as the expiation for our sins. In rising from the dead, Jesus has also given to us a share in His own divine life. This is the new birth St. Peter speaks of, a birth which is granted at the moment of our Baptism, but was obtained for us in the Resurrection. This new birth is not a natural birth so that we have…Continue Reading

Pope Benedict … On Wisdom

April 16, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Pope Benedict … On Wisdom

VATICAN CITY (ZENIT) — Here is the translation of the Holy Father’s new catechetical series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, given during his weekly general audience on April 9. Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! We begin today a series of catecheses on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. You know that the Holy Spirit constitutes the soul, the vital lymph of the Church and of every individual Christian: He is the Love of God who makes our heart His dwelling and enters into communion with us. The Holy Spirit is always with us, in us, in our heart. The Spirit Himself is “the gift of God” par excellence (cf. John 4:10), He is a gift of God…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Parents Must Teach Chastity As Does Pope Francis

April 14, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Parents Must Teach Chastity As Does Pope Francis

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Recently Pope Francis urged chastity for prevention of HIV as Pope Benedict was also known to do, and, as a result of which, opprobrium and vituperation were rained down upon him. The two Vicars of Christ agree in this matter because the teaching comes not from men nor from them but from God. The chastity of abstention outside of marriage and the chastity of fidelity within marriage are two sides of the same coin: the integrity of the human person in relationship with God and with others. Speaking to bishops of Tanzania in Rome for their pilgrimage ad limina apostolorum, Pope Francis praised Church health-care workers in Africa who care for those with HIV/AIDS and…Continue Reading

Mary’s Perpetual Virginity… Who Were Jesus’ Brothers?

April 13, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Mary’s Perpetual Virginity… Who Were Jesus’ Brothers?

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 2 Just as Jesus came not to destroy but to fulfill (Matt. 5:17), the New Testament is consistent with the Old, and in Jesus’ time brother had also a variety of meanings. For instance: In Matt. 5:22 (Sermon on the Mount), brother means a fellow man, purely and simply, because of our common origin in father Adam. Our Lord says, “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the Sanhedrin.” Surely He is not saying that the only person you cannot get angry with is your blood-brother, but the rest, cousins, uncles, nephews,…Continue Reading

Catechesis In The Twenty-First Century

April 12, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catechesis In The Twenty-First Century

By Don Fier “In order to arrive at a systematic knowledge of the content of the faith, all can find in the Catechism of the Catholic Church a precious and indispensable tool. It is one of the most important fruits of the Second Vatican Council.” With these words in his apostolic letter Porta Fidei announcing the upcoming Year of Faith (October 11, 2012-November 24, 2013), Pope Benedict XVI stressed the incalculable importance that the Catechism needs to play for the faithful to truly understand what our precious Catholic faith professes. With the Holy Father’s words to serve as a fitting backdrop, this column is the introductory installment of a long-running series of articles by which The Wanderer intends to take…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

April 11, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. When was it decided that Sunday is the Sabbath and not Saturday? Is it in the Bible? — R.E.G., Nevada. A. Yes, it’s in the Acts of the Apostles where it says that “on the first day of the week when we gathered to break bread [i.e., celebrate Mass], Paul spoke to them because he was going to leave on the next day, and he kept on speaking until midnight” (20:7). The Jews had celebrated the Sabbath on Saturday, the seventh day of the week, because that is the day on which God rested after creating the world and its creatures. But the early Christians changed the celebration of the Lord’s Day to Sunday. Pope John Paul II explained…Continue Reading

A Day Holy To The Lord

April 10, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Day Holy To The Lord

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Easter (YR A) Readings: Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Col. 3:1-4 John 20:1-9 In the Book of Nehemiah (and that of Ezra), we read about how the priests and the scribes went through the crowds of the people who had gathered to hear the words of the Book of Deuteronomy telling them that it was it was a day of rejoicing in the Lord, a day holy to the Lord. If that was the case when a divinely inspired book was found, think of how much greater is the holiness and the subsequent rejoicing that should be ours when we consider the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The deliberate choice our Lord made to go to…Continue Reading