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Pope’s Homily At Mass For Sacred Heart Of Jesus . . . The Heart Of The Good Shepherd

June 15, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Pope’s Homily At Mass For Sacred Heart Of Jesus . . . The Heart Of The Good Shepherd

(Editor’s Note: Below is the Vatican-provided translation of the Pope’s prepared homily during the Holy Mass for the Sacred Heart of Jesus, concluding the June 1 to 3 Jubilee for Priests. The Mass was celebrated the morning of June 3 in St. Peter’s Square. (The Holy Father stressed to the priests: “A shepherd does not live by calculating his gains or how long he has worked: He is not an accountant of the Spirit, but a Good Samaritan who seeks out those in need.” (ZENIT News Agency provided this Vatican translation from the original in Italian. The Pope’s off-the-cuff remarks are in brackets and were translated by Deborah Castellano Lubov. (All rights reserved.) + + + This celebration of the…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Fr. Rosica’s Thinly Veiled Self-Promotion

June 13, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Fr. Rosica’s Thinly Veiled Self-Promotion

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK “Oftentimes the obsessed, scrupulous, self-appointed, nostalgia-hankering virtual guardians of faith or of liturgical practices are very disturbed, broken, and angry individuals, who never found a platform or pulpit in real life and so resort to the Internet and become trolling pontiffs and holy executioners!” Fr. Thomas Rosica said the above recently in comments delivered to the Brooklyn diocesan observance of World Communications Day. (See the UK’s Catholic Herald, May 18, 2016, for a report on this episode.) How do you move product? By convincing others you have what they need. And if no one needs what you are trying to sell, then you have to create a need. This I think is the clue to…Continue Reading

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

June 12, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Marvel Of The Catholic Church . . . The Miraculous Apparitions Of Mary

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA Part 4 “Contra factum non valet argumentum,” taught St. Thomas Aquinas. “It is useless to argue against facts.” We learn in Sacred Scriptures that, from time to time, and according to the requirements of His divine Providence, God our Lord does send messages to the world. Angels have appeared to certain very fortunate people in the Old Testament, such as the mother of Samson, the young men in the furnace, and to Tobit and Tobias. The New Testament begins with the apparition of the Archangel Gabriel to Our Blessed Mother, thus opening a new stream of contact between Heaven and Earth. But not only angels are sent by God to speak to men: People are sent,…Continue Reading

Singing And Music In The Liturgy

June 11, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Singing And Music In The Liturgy

By DON FIER As we began our consideration of “how the liturgy is celebrated” last week, we first saw that its expression “is interwoven with signs and symbols whose meaning is rooted in creation and in human culture” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 236). Furthermore, we observed that it is also determined by Old Testament events that prefigure what was fully revealed in the Person and works of Christ. In other words, the sacramental signs that are integral to the liturgy find their foundation in created things (e.g., candles, fire, water, bread, wine), human social life (e.g., washing, anointing, breaking of bread), and elements of Old Testament salvation history (e.g., sacrificial offerings, the rites of Passover).…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

June 10, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: One of the more difficult Catholic teachings to explain is how the gift of the Holy Spirit known as Fear of the Lord can be reconciled with a God of love. Fr. George Rutler, pastor of the Church of St. Michael in New York City, has offered a good explanation: “The one thing God cannot do is contradict Himself. This is proof of His omnipotence, for as Truth, to lie would be to cancel Himself out. Consequently, when there seem to be contradictions in His inspired Scriptures, the task for humans is to figure out why apparent contradictions are really hidden consistencies. For instance, God told Abraham: ‘Do not be afraid’ (Gen. 26:24) and when, as Christ, He…Continue Reading

Members Of Christ

June 9, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Members Of Christ

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twelfth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR C) Readings: Zech. 12:10-11, 13:1 Gal. 3:26-29 Luke 9:18-24 In the second reading today St. Paul speaks to us of our great dignity. This dignity is presented in two ways, both regarding the person of Jesus who is the Son of God and a Son of Abraham. Because we are baptized into Jesus we also become partakers in everything that He is. Therefore, we become children of God and we become children of Abraham. It needs to be noted, as St. Paul does in his Letter to the Galatians, that when Scripture speaks of Abraham and his offspring, the word “offspring” is singular. This is also true of Gen. 3:15…Continue Reading

Pope’s First Meditation At Jubilee For Priests . . . “From Estrangement To Celebration”

June 8, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Pope’s First Meditation At Jubilee For Priests . . . “From Estrangement To Celebration”

(Editor’s Note: Below is the Vatican-provided translation of Pope Francis’ first meditation, titled “From Estrangement to Celebration,” at Rome’s Papal Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano the morning of June 2, speaking on the occasion of the Jubilee of priests and seminarians, June 1-3. (During their retreat titled, “The Good Shepherd: the Priest as a Minister of Mercy and Compassion, Close to His People and Servant of All,” Francis delivered three meditations. (ZENIT News Agency provided the text below.) + + + If, as we said, the Gospel presents mercy as an excess of God’s love, the first thing we have to do is to see where today’s world, and every person in it, most needs this kind of overflow…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World . . . Cardinal Sarah: “The Primacy Of God”

June 6, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World . . . Cardinal Sarah: “The Primacy Of God”

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The most important news to come out in the last few weeks was the Robert Cardinal Sarah interview with the French publication Famille Chretienne. Why? The cardinal is the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and therefore chief adviser on liturgical matters for the Pope and the universal Church. As related in the Catholic World Report article used for this column, he “explains how God can be put ‘back at the center’ of the liturgy” where in so many places the nearly complete horizontal or human orientation of the liturgy has made God nearly invisible. This interview relates to the most important thing priest and people do together…Continue Reading

The Marvel Of The Catholic Church… Miracles: The Shroud Of Turin And More

June 5, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Marvel Of The Catholic Church… Miracles: The Shroud Of Turin And More

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 3 In the last article I mentioned the amazing miracle of the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius. A little more about it, before we move on to other beautiful facts regarding the marvel of the Catholic Church. The phenomenon has been the object of public viewing since 1389 — but there is a catch: Sometimes it does not happen, and when it does not happen, a catastrophe does happen to the city of Naples instead! So, before every volcanic eruption or earthquake, good old St. Januarius warned them of impending disaster. Impressive! Hence you find thousands of Neapolitans at the cathedral, believers and nonbelievers, to see if the miracle will take place!…Continue Reading

How Is The Church’s Liturgy Celebrated?

June 4, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on How Is The Church’s Liturgy Celebrated?

By DON FIER When the question “Who celebrates the liturgy?” is posed by the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), we saw last week that it identifies two groups: “Those who even now celebrate it without signs [who] are already in the heavenly liturgy” (n. 1136) and those who are “celebrants of the sacramental liturgy” (n. 1040). It likewise emphasizes that “it is the whole Christ (Christus totus) who acts, Head and Body,…which is the Church in heaven and on earth” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCCC], n. 233). Thus, whenever we celebrate the sacraments, we participate in the unceasing heavenly liturgy in union with the angels and saints. We also saw last week that the Second…Continue Reading