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Catholic Replies

August 12, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: Enjoy the following commentary from Fr. George Rutler of the Church of St. Michael in New York City, who makes clear what Cardinal Sarah had in mind when he called recently for celebrating parts of the Mass facing East. “In 2014, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea to be Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, with instructions to continue a ‘reform of the reform.’ After the Second Vatican Council, many changes in the liturgy were done virtually overnight, with no mandate from the Council, but motivated by what Pope Pius XII would have called a romantic ‘historicism’ based on a mistaken understanding of the early Church’s liturgy. “Even some…Continue Reading

The Discipline Of The Lord

August 11, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Discipline Of The Lord

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-First Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR C) Readings: Isaiah 66:18-21 Heb. 12:5-7, 11-13 Luke 13:22-30 In the first reading today God says through the Prophet Isaiah that He is going to send people to the various nations who have never heard of the Lord or seen His glory. These people will bring many to the Lord; some of those who come from foreign countries would be chosen by God to be priests. All of this is astounding, but to the Jewish reader it must have seemed truly unbelievable. Since only those born of the family of Aaron could be priests among the Jewish people, how is it that a pagan could be a priest of God?…Continue Reading

Religious Liberty And The Dignity Of Man

August 10, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Religious Liberty And The Dignity Of Man

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE Part 2 (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, patron of the Order of Malta, delivered the following address to the Church Teaches Forum, Louisville, Ky., on July 16, 2016. It is reprinted here with permission. All rights reserved. Because of its length, we are presenting it in two parts; the first part appeared in last week’s issue.) + + + Order In Society And The Common Good If any form of government is to serve a community or nation, society must recognize a certain order which permits the individual to pursue his own good, while, at the same time, respecting the good of others who form a community with him. The good is…Continue Reading

The Marvel Of The Catholic Church . . . The Catholic And Protestant Canons Of The Bible

August 7, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Marvel Of The Catholic Church . . . The Catholic And Protestant Canons Of The Bible

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 12 In order to understand the fundamental and unquestionable difference between the complete canon of the Bible adopted by the Catholic Church and the mutilated one adopted by Protestants, we must go back in history to the time of Jesus, when the Jews had two canons of the Bible, the Hebrew one and the Greek one. There was no unifying Magisterium among the Jews; there were rabbinical schools. The Pharisees, for instance, accepted the five first books of Moses plus the prophets, whereas the Sadducees did not accept the prophets, only the books of Moses. They were viscerally divided in their biblical canons. The only unity they had was that the Hebrew canon was…Continue Reading

Baptism — Gateway To The Christian Life

August 6, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Baptism — Gateway To The Christian Life

By DON FIER The sacraments of initiation — Baptism, Confirmation, and the Holy Eucharist — can be seen as progressive stages in the spiritual and sacramental growth of Christians. By analogy, they are comparable to the origin, development, and nourishing of natural life. As we saw last week, the faithful are reborn to share in the divine life through Baptism, are fortified and strengthened by Confirmation, and are nurtured and sustained by the food of eternal life, the Body and Blood of Christ, in the Eucharist. In ever-increasing measure, the People of God grow in grace and are perfected in charity through these foundational sacraments. By these three sacraments together, our initiation into Jesus, His life, and His Church are…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

August 5, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: Following up on our recent reply about Centering Prayer, we are pleased to publish the following comments from Connie Rossini, author of a book and editor of a website on Centering Prayer. Here are her comments: “I just read your Catholic Replies column on Centering Prayer. I have been studying the subject intently for the past two years or more. I authored the book Is Centering Prayer Catholic? Fr. Thomas Keating Meets Teresa of Avila and the CDF. Two of my articles on Centering Prayer have appeared in the National Catholic Register. I have also recently set up a website (iscenteringprayercatholic.wordpress.com). The Quick Questions page spends 3,500 words answering the most common questions people have about Centering Prayer.…Continue Reading

Only The Truth Can Unite Us

August 4, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Only The Truth Can Unite Us

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twentieth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR C) Readings: Jer. 38:4-6, 8-10 Heb. 12:1-4 Luke 12:49-53 In the Gospel reading today our Lord tells us that He came to cause division and that a household would be divided three against two and two against three. This is one of those passages which most people like to forget because we want Jesus to be warm and fuzzy and to say what we want Him to say. However, as it was in times past, so it is again, that we are living in this situation exactly. People have to make a choice either for or against Jesus. There are differing reasons for this. On the one hand, we can…Continue Reading

Religious Liberty And The Dignity Of Man

August 3, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Religious Liberty And The Dignity Of Man

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE Part 1 (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, patron of the Order of Malta, delivered the following address to the Church Teaches Forum, Louisville, Ky., on July 16, 2016. It is reprinted here with permission. All rights reserved. Because of its length, we are presenting it in two parts; the second part will appear in next week’s issue.) + + + Your Eminence Cardinal Arinze, Your Grace Archbishop Kurtz, Your Excellency Bishop Choby, my brothers in the Sacred Priesthood, consecrated brothers and sisters, my brothers and sisters in Christ, Introduction For some time already, our society, both in the United States and in Europe, has been confronting a serious challenge to its Christian…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Encouraging Vocations Requires Generous Love

August 1, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Encouraging Vocations Requires Generous Love

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The martyrdom of Fr. Jacques Hamel in France on July 26 makes clear the continuing need of encouraging priestly vocations. Not only is the aging priesthood retiring at an increasing rate, we now have the growth and spread of radical Islam that demands the shedding of Christian blood to sate the worship of its false “god.” Without the Eucharist there is no Jesus or Church. Without priests there is no Jesus. We have been blessed in our small parish with the task of fostering the vocation of a young man who believes himself called to the sacred priesthood of Jesus Christ. The presence of this man in our community is a sign of the Lord…Continue Reading

The Marvel Of The Catholic Church . . . The Bible And The Magisterium

July 31, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Marvel Of The Catholic Church . . . The Bible And The Magisterium

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 11 Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are the two sources of knowledge about divine Revelation within the Catholic Church. Martin Luther invented the novel doctrine of Sola Scriptura — the Bible alone, no Church being necessary — and managed to deceive a great many Catholics in his day, Catholics who were already in a process of doctrinal and moral decadence, and were looking for someone to put their discontent into words. Contrary to the new heresy, the Church has always taught from the first centuries that both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are equally important sources of the one — and only one — Revelation given by Christ to His apostles. The relationship between…Continue Reading