Thursday 18th April 2024

Home » Our Catholic Faith » Recent Articles:

The Marvel Of The Catholic Church… The Heroes Of Jesus Christ — The Martyrs!

June 26, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Marvel Of The Catholic Church… The Heroes Of Jesus Christ — The Martyrs!

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 6 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). No other people have proved their love for Jesus Christ more than the Catholic martyrs. From the Colosseum during the first three centuries of pagan persecution to today’s Islamic persecution in many countries, from the lions of the Colosseum to the murderous ISIS of today, Catholic martyrs have always been the most magnificent flowers in God’s garden of heroism. Pagan historians record that in the days of the Nero’s persecution (AD 64-68), a “vast multitude of Christians were put to death” (Tacitus, Annals, X, 44). Tacitus lived between 55 and 120. Some were thrown…Continue Reading

Liturgical Seasons And Cycles

June 25, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Liturgical Seasons And Cycles

By DON FIER As we continued our consideration of “how the liturgy is celebrated” last week, we saw that sacred art (along with sacred music) plays a prominent role in our worship of God. In his 1999 Letter to Artists, Pope St. John Paul II highlighted its importance by saying: “In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art….[It] has a unique capacity to take one or other facet of the [Gospel] message and translate it into colors, shapes, and sounds which nourish the intuition of those who look or listen” (n. 12). When art and music which are set apart for divine worship are “truly worthy, becoming, and beautiful” (Sacrosanctum Concilium [SC], n.…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

June 24, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. I just want to ask what James J. Drummey’s qualifications are for answering the questions that subscribers ask. Does he have a title or does he consult with an authority on these issues? — K.C., via e-mail. A. My qualifications for writing the Catholic Replies column for the past 25 years include reading, studying, pondering, praying, writing, speaking, and teaching about the Catholic faith for half a century. I have published nine books on Catholicism (for the titles and content of the books, see my website www.crpublications.com) and have an extensive library that allows me to access and quote the wisdom of Popes, saints, Church councils, catechisms, canon law, and numerous books by authors whose knowledge and understanding of religious and moral…Continue Reading

Take Up Your Cross

June 23, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Take Up Your Cross

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fourteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR C) Readings: Isaiah 66:10c-14 Gal. 6:14-18 Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 In the Gospel reading today we hear about the seventy-two men the Lord had sent out ahead of Him. He had given them authority to heal people and to expel demons. That sounds great, but when one actually sees it happen it is a surprise. There are two elements to that surprise. The first is our lack of faith believing that it would not happen. After all, if we believed it would happen, why would we be surprised? The second is the joy that this is really happening. We hear both of these responses in the reports given to our Lord…Continue Reading

Benedict XVI On His 2011 Ordination Anniversary… Long Experience Of The Goodness Of The Lord

June 22, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Benedict XVI On His 2011 Ordination Anniversary… Long Experience Of The Goodness Of The Lord

(Editor’s Note: Below we reprint the text of Pope Benedict XVI’s homily on his 60th anniversary of Ordination to the priesthood, given at St. Peter’s Basilica, June 29, 2011. The text is from the website of Catholic News Agency. (Pope Emeritus Benedict was preparing to celebrate the 65th anniversary of his Ordination as The Wanderer went to press this week. We are publishing the 2011 text in honor of the present anniversary. (On this June 29, Benedict XVI will celebrate his 65th anniversary in a special ceremony with Pope Francis inside the Vatican’s apostolic palace, according to a CNA report by Elise Harris. Announced by the Ratzinger Foundation, the ceremony will take place at the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… “Mass, The Musical”

June 20, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… “Mass, The Musical”

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK I write to you shortly after the massacre in Orlando, witnessing the divisions that some are making in reaction to this great sin in the sight of God. Above all, and first of all, those who died are human beings, created lovingly by God in His image and likeness, and it is this truth we must take with us to God in prayer, as we do for all the departed. With many, we confront once again the mystery of iniquity, that man who is always capable of great good is also capable of great evil, including violence against his fellowman. Including the tragic and senseless loss of life in Orlando recently, we must commend all…Continue Reading

The Marvel Of The Catholic Church . . . More On The Miraculous Apparitions Of Mary

June 19, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Marvel Of The Catholic Church . . . More On The Miraculous Apparitions Of Mary

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 5 “Contra factum non valet argumentum,” taught St. Thomas Aquinas. “It is useless to argue against facts.” When shallow-minded people smile and say that all private apparitions are just the result of self-hypnosis, or auto-suggestion, delirium, or hallucination, it is our time to smile at them. When 70,000 people in Fatima saw the sun dance in the sky, which, by the way, dried up the ground and the people’s clothes that had been soaked up by the torrential rain, it becomes difficult to prove that all of them were hallucinating — unless one is an incorrigible bigot. But thank goodness such people were in short supply in 1917 (today numbers may have grown, but…Continue Reading

Sacred Images And The Liturgy

June 18, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Sacred Images And The Liturgy

By DON FIER Among the special signs that are essential and integral to liturgical worship in the Catholic Church, singing and music hold a pre-eminent place. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) and Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy teach, it is “a treasure of inestimable value” (Sacrosanctum Concilium [SC], n. 112 § 1; CCC, n. 1156). To underscore the distinctive importance reserved for sacred music, Pope St. John Paul II, on the Feast of St. Cecilia, the patroness of sacred music, echoed words written a century earlier by his Predecessor Pope St. Pius X: “Being an integral part of the solemn Liturgy, [it] participates in the general purpose of the Liturgy, which is the glory…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

June 17, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: In a recent reply from a reader who identified herself as “just a grandmother,” we took note of how vital grandmothers are. Now a friend has sent us a book entitled A Grandparent’s Gift of Memories: A Pilgrimage With the Saints. Written by Nancy Groves, the book offers the reader an opportunity to compile a journal of the various chapters in one’s life — from infancy through youth, marriage, raising a family, and being grandparents. Each chapter is introduced by a biographical sketch of an appropriate saint, for example, Gerard Majella, the patron saint of expectant mothers; Aloysius Gonzaga and Maria Goretti, patron saints of youth; Valentine of Rome and Rita Cascia, patron saints of marriage; the Holy…Continue Reading

Real Freedom From Sin

June 16, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Real Freedom From Sin

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Thirteenth Sunday Of Ordinary Time (YR C) Readings: 1 Kings 19:6b, 19-21 Gal. 5:1, 13-18 Luke 9:51-62 In the second reading today, St. Paul reminds us that we are called to freedom. We have to make a few distinctions here because of the general misunderstanding of freedom. First of all, we were made to be free because we were made in the image and likeness of God. We are persons and a person is defined as a living being with a mind and a free will. So, by our very nature we have freedom and it is a freedom that cannot be taken away. However, if we have always been free, then why would St. Paul…Continue Reading