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The Righteous Shoot

November 27, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Righteous Shoot

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER First Sunday Of Advent (YR C) Readings: Jer. 33:14-16 1 Thess. 3:12-4:2 Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 In the readings today, we look back to the promise of the coming of the Messiah, we learn a lesson about how to conduct our lives in the present, and we look forward to the Second Coming of our Lord at the end of the world. While this does not seem to make much sense, it is actually very practical: We learn from the First Coming of our Lord, so we are prepared for His Second Coming. This means we live in the present according to what our Lord taught us while He was in the world and what He teaches…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Bishops: Ban Jesuit Fr. James Martin Now

November 26, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Bishops: Ban Jesuit Fr. James Martin Now

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK N.B.: I do not posit a formal moral cooperation on the part of the bishops but say, rather, that by their silence bishops leave their flocks confused and possibly construing agreement/support of Martin who reaches into every diocese and interferes in each bishop’s proper jurisdiction through media/publishing. This is why I believe a ban is necessary.” The bishops in Baltimore were stymied in their attempt to pass meaningful and effective measures to impose their own sexual morality guidelines on themselves. The Holy Father shot down their planned votes on two measures to police themselves by asking them not to act. Stephen P. White in The Catholic Thing makes the point that the Pope, in effect,…Continue Reading

The Authority Of Bishops… Can A Catholic Resist A Wrong Teaching Of His Bishop?

November 25, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Authority Of Bishops… Can A Catholic Resist A Wrong Teaching Of His Bishop?

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 1 It has certainly caused much confusion in the consciences of a great many faithful Catholics to learn that bishops in countries such as Malta, Belgium, Germany and Argentina are giving Holy Communion to couples who live in an adulterous relationship. And the confusion is naturally attributed to the ambiguous teaching of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. Every Catholic knows that adultery is a mortal sin, and if a person dies in that state he can hardly expect to be saved. The Commandment is clear: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Period. Those that do, like David and the woman in the Gospel, were called to repent and to “sin no more.” But today…Continue Reading

The Virtues And Grace

November 24, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Virtues And Grace

By DON FIER “Given the finite condition of man and his checkered history,” observes Dr. Donald De Marco, “one might think that humility, a human virtue of such evident appropriateness, would be easy to appropriate. It should be the first lesson we learn from self-reflection!” (The Heart of Virtue [THV], p. 116). Yet, is it not rather the correlative vice – pride — that is on display in far too many of us? As an anonymous pundit once remarked: “Many would be scantily clad if clothed in their humility” (ibid.). Indeed, given our fallen human nature and the culture of secularism and individualism in which we live, it is not surprising that many see in themselves talents, abilities, and a…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

November 23, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. In Gen. 3:14, God curses the serpent (Satan) for the Fall started by Eve eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. In Gen. 3:15, in the Douay-Rheims version, it is stated, “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.” The woman in 3:15 is said to be the Blessed Virgin, who will finally finish Satan. Yet in the New American Bible translation, Gen. 3:15 reads: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.” The NAB leaves Mary out as…Continue Reading

Life And Death — A Different Worldview

November 21, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Life And Death — A Different Worldview

By FR. SHENAN BOQUET (Fr. Shenan Boquet is president of Human Life International. Fr. Boquet’s commentary below on Life and Death first appeared at HLI.org November 12 and is reprinted here with permission. All rights reserved.) + + + Two Diametrically Opposed Visions In a lyrical essay originally published in Crisis Magazine, Catholic philosopher and Senior Fellow of Human Life International Donald DeMarco, Ph.D., poignantly paints the stark division between the pro-life worldview, and the worldview espoused by the Culture of Death. Invoking T.S. Eliot’s seminal poem The Waste Land, Dr. DeMarco suggests that Eliot captured the essential characteristics of the Culture of Death. In such a culture, death is presumed to have the final say, and as such is…Continue Reading

Life And Death — A Different Worldview

November 21, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Life And Death — A Different Worldview

By FR. SHENAN BOQUET (Fr. Shenan Boquet is president of Human Life International. Fr. Boquet’s commentary below on Life and Death first appeared at HLI.org November 12 and is reprinted here with permission. All rights reserved.) + + + Two Diametrically Opposed Visions In a lyrical essay originally published in Crisis Magazine, Catholic philosopher and Senior Fellow of Human Life International Donald DeMarco, Ph.D., poignantly paints the stark division between the pro-life worldview, and the worldview espoused by the Culture of Death. Invoking T.S. Eliot’s seminal poem The Waste Land, Dr. DeMarco suggests that Eliot captured the essential characteristics of the Culture of Death. In such a culture, death is presumed to have the final say, and as such is…Continue Reading

Everlasting Kingship And Dominion

November 20, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Everlasting Kingship And Dominion

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER The Solemnity Of Christ, The King Of The Universe (YR B) Readings: Daniel 7:13-14 Rev. 1:5-8 John 18:33b-37 In the Gospel reading today, we are privy to a conversation between Pilate, the Roman procurator, and Jesus. In the course of the interrogation, Pilate asks Jesus if He is a King. Our Lord answers that His Kingdom does not belong to this world. Moreover, if His Kingdom were of this world, His subjects would be fighting to save Him from being handed over. When Pilate asks a second time about our Lord’s Kingship, Jesus responds that His purpose for coming into the world is to testify to the truth and He says everyone who belongs to the…Continue Reading

Bishops Applaud Final HHS Mandate Rules

November 19, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Bishops Applaud Final HHS Mandate Rules

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The final rules announced November 7 by the federal government regarding the HHS mandate “allow people like the Little Sisters of the Poor, faith-based schools, and others to live out their faith in daily life,” according to leaders of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston and president of the USCCB, and Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., chairman of the USCCB’s Committee for Religious Liberty, are applauding the Trump administration’s decision to finalize regulations providing expanded religious and moral exemptions from the mandate requiring health insurance coverage of sterilization, contraception, and drugs and devices that may cause abortions. Cardinal DiNardo and Archbishop Kurtz offered the following joint statement in…Continue Reading

Fr. Altier . . . “Stay in the State of Grace” Homily from November 15, 2018

November 17, 2018 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Fr. Altier . . . “Stay in the State of Grace” Homily from November 15, 2018

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