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The Conditions For Mortal Sin Are Not That Hard To Meet

March 15, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Conditions For Mortal Sin Are Not That Hard To Meet

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this commentary on March 5 and it is reprinted here with permission. Msgr. Pope is the pastor of Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian in Washington, D.C.) + + Recent and public conversations about the nature of mortal sin, the reception of Holy Communion and worthiness to receive the Eucharist have shown how some in our culture, even if they accept the concept that sin could be mortal, so limit the possibility of committing it that it barely exists at all in their moral landscape. This is usually done by distorting or blurring the three conditions under which sin is considered mortal. Briefly stated these conditions are:Mortal sin is:Sin whose object is grave…Continue Reading

Reject Evil And Live For The Son Of God

March 13, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Reject Evil And Live For The Son Of God

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fourth Sunday Of Lent (YR A) Readings: 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13Eph. 5:8-14John 9:1-41 In the first reading today, we see one of the most typical of human actions: judging by appearances. God sends Samuel to anoint the king He has chosen. Samuel does not know who the man is, but he does know that he is one of the sons of Jesse from Bethlehem. When Samuel sees Jesse’s first born, a man who was tall, strong, and handsome, he assumed this was the one the Lord had chosen. God let Samuel know this was not the one, neither were any of the others Jesse presented before Samuel. The one God had chosen was judged as…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

March 10, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: Over the years, we have been asked many times about the accuracy of the claim that former Communist Bella Dodd had placed over one thousand fellow Communists in Catholic seminaries. We were never able to authenticate that claim. But now there is a new book, The Devil and Bella Dodd, by Paul Kengor and Mary Nicholas, which says that the claim is true. The authors cite several persons, including Sherry Finn, Johnine and Paul Leininger, and Alice Von Hildebrand, who said that they heard Mrs. Dodd make that statement in a public talk.In an interview with LifeSiteNews, Kengor, who has spent most of his adult life studying Communism, said that he and his co-author “were able to confirm…Continue Reading

The Holy Eucharist: “The Power Of His Body”

March 9, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Holy Eucharist: “The Power Of His Body”

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK As a young Army officer, I learned that military readiness meant ultimate availability. A constant capacity to respond when the mission demanded an ability to pack up and move out at any time was a given. One of the easiest ways to fall short in military life was failing to respond when summoned, wherever or whenever.There was a lot of “togetherness” back then. Nothing like the military to throw you in together with 500 of your “best friends.” There was plenty of time for shooting the breeze. “Smoking and joking” as we called it. We never thought of fearing lack of human contact. We longed rather more often for solo time at home to rest…Continue Reading

Flee To The Truth When Tempted

March 8, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Flee To The Truth When Tempted

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this commentary on February 25 and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + The Gospel today says that Jesus was tempted by the Devil in the desert. Heb. 4:15 also affirms, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”How exactly a divine person, with a sinless human nature, experiences temptation is somewhat mysterious, and yet the text affirms that He does. A Lenten antiphon from the Breviary teaches that He did this, or allowed this, for our sake: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our…Continue Reading

Servant Of God Mother Mary Lange . . . And The Rich History Of Black Catholic Religious Orders

March 7, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Servant Of God Mother Mary Lange . . . And The Rich History Of Black Catholic Religious Orders

By JIM GRAVES NEWPORT BEACH (CNA) — Two centuries ago, Mary Elizabeth Lange (1789-1882) immigrated to the United States from Cuba and joined a friend to offer free education to Baltimore’s Black children. With the support of Baltimore Archbishop James Whitfield, she founded a school for “girls of color” and then the Oblate Sisters of Providence, a religious community for women of African descent.The cause for Mother Mary Lange’s canonization was introduced by William Cardinal Keeler of Baltimore in 1991, and as a “Servant of God,” she has begun the first step on the road to canonization.As many observe Black History Month in February, it is a fitting time for Catholics to consider the accomplishments of Black Catholics in America…Continue Reading

Keep Your Focus On Jesus

March 6, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Keep Your Focus On Jesus

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Third Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Exodus 17:3-7Romans 5:1-2, 5-8John 4:5-42 In the first reading today, we hear about the people of Israel grumbling against God and Moses. The people had just recently come out of Egypt and, as they were making their way through the desert there was a lack of water for the people and for their livestock. Rather than turning to prayer or seeking to rely on the Lord Who had brought them out of Egypt with an abundance of signs and wonders, the people decided to grumble instead. In fact, we are told that a name was given to the place, Meribah and Massah, because the people quarreled with the…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

March 3, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This series on the Bible is from the book Catholicism & Scripture. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. Special Course On Catholicism And Scripture (Chapter 14) God had been faithful to Israel for more than a thousand years, despite their infidelity and idolatry, as the cycle of sin was repeated over and over again — from sin to punishment to repentance to liberation. But God finally decided to let Israel’s enemies triumph over her, even to send them into exile in Babylon. First went the people in the North in 721 B.C. and then those from the South in 597…Continue Reading

Fasting: Denial Of The Flesh, Joy Of The Spirit

March 2, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Fasting: Denial Of The Flesh, Joy Of The Spirit

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK “Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.”The suffering of physical privation in our Lent fasting and other means of self-denial has the purpose of securing for ourselves higher spiritual goods. The grace of inner gladness, that of the spirit which endures beyond the limits of the flesh, is one of these.“In that time Jesus said to His disciples: And when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast” (Matt. 6:16).Christ does not oppose the laws of religious observance. As in other circumstances recounted in the Scriptures, here again that is the case. He came “not to abolish,” He said, but…Continue Reading

The Cycle Of Hatred And Revenge Ends With Me

March 1, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Cycle Of Hatred And Revenge Ends With Me

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this commentary on February 19 and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + In today’s Gospel the Lord is teaching us, by His grace, to break the cycle of hatred and retribution. When someone harms me, I may well become angry, and in my anger seek to get back at the offender. If I do that, though, then Satan has earned a second victory and brought the anger and retribution to a higher level. Most likely, the one who originally harmed me will then take exception to my retribution and try to inflict more harm on me. And so the cycle continues and escalates. Satan loves this.Break the cycle.…Continue Reading