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Catholic Replies

June 3, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: Despite statements from Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, that the entire Third Secret of Fatima was made public by Pope John Paul II in 2000, some have continued to insist that part of the secret was suppressed. A recent example appearing in a blog said that a German priest named Fr. Ingo Dollinger claimed that then-Cardinal Ratzinger had told him shortly after the secret was published that part of the message was still secret. On May 21 of this year, the Vatican Press Office published a communiqué from now retired Pope Benedict XVI, the former Cardinal Ratzinger, which denied the claim. “In this regard,” said the communiqué,…Continue Reading

We Are Justified In The Fullness Of Faith

June 2, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on We Are Justified In The Fullness Of Faith

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Eleventh Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR C) Readings: 2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13 Gal. 2:16, 19-21 Luke 7:36-8:3 In the second reading today St. Paul says we know that we are not justified by works of the Law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. There is the sad misunderstanding of this point that is so prevalent today: that all one has to do is to believe in Jesus and you are automatically saved. While there is no salvation apart from belief in Jesus, such simple belief is not enough to be saved. Jesus is God, so if we are going to believe in Jesus we have to believe also in everything God has revealed through Scripture and…Continue Reading

How St. Thomas Aquinas Became A Great Mind

June 1, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on How St. Thomas Aquinas Became A Great Mind

By MOST REV. SALVATORE J. CORDILEONE (Editor’s Note: The Most Rev. Salvatore J. Cordileone, archbishop of San Francisco, gave the following commencement address to the class of 2016, Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Clara, Calif., on May 14.) + + + Introduction Giving a speech such as this to a very bright group of graduating college seniors, I suppose that I am expected to tell you to “believe in yourself, dream big dreams and pursue those dreams, because you have the power within you to achieve whatever you want in life.” The Meaning Of Success Has this not become the standard script now — that commencement speeches urge graduates to utilize their potential, make a difference, and succeed? While this message…Continue Reading

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

June 1, 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

A Leaven In The World… Look To Our Father In Heaven

May 30, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Look To Our Father In Heaven

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Everyone has made a wrong decision at some point in his or her life, and everyone can speak about the suffering or pain caused by bad decisions. What, on the other hand, about the suffering or pain that is caused by doing the right thing? How often can we say that we suffered personally and willingly for doing right? Or that we chose to do what was right and good with foreknowledge of the cost to ourselves? I recently spoke with a father who is suffering for doing the right thing. This man is a divorced father who fell in love with a divorced woman, who also has children, and they subsequently decided to move…Continue Reading

The Marvel Of The Catholic Church Miracles And The Saints

May 29, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Marvel Of The Catholic Church Miracles And The Saints

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 2 “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand’.” “Heal the sick, raise the dead, and cleanse the lepers, cast out demons” (Matt. 10:7-8). It is evident that our Lord Jesus Christ gave to His disciples the power to perform miracles, and many of them did just that. Not all of them through the centuries received that power, but many did. He even gave a much greater power to His apostles, the power to forgive sins! “And He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any,…Continue Reading

The Church’s Liturgy — Who Celebrates?

May 28, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Church’s Liturgy — Who Celebrates?

By DON FIER There is an ancient Latin saying in the Church that eloquently expresses what her members believe of the efficacy of the sacraments and their relationship to faith: lex orandi, lex credendi (“the law of prayer is the law of faith”). Each of the seven sacraments, as we saw last week, can be classified in various categories. Yet regardless of classification, each not only presupposes and confesses the faith handed down to us by the apostles, but through word and ritual elements nourishes, strengthens, and expresses it (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], nn. 1123-1124). Faith tells us that the words and ritual elements with which the sacraments are celebrated truly confer the graces they signify. Furthermore,…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

May 27, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. My husband and I are wondering when to say the “Amen” after the Lord’s prayer is prayed during Mass. I believe “Amen” should be said after we say “deliver us from evil.” — J.W., Georgia. A. Although it is correct to say “Amen” at the end of the Our Father while saying it outside of Mass, for example, while praying the rosary, it is not correct to say it at Mass after the words, “deliver us from evil.” At that point, another prayer has been introduced that begins, “Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil…,” which is said by the priest, and then the congregation responds, “For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and…Continue Reading

God’s Prophet

May 26, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on God’s Prophet

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Tenth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR C) Readings: 1 Kings 17:17-24 Gal. 1:11-14a, 15a, c, 16a, 17, 19 Luke 7:11-17 In the first reading today we hear about the death of the son of a widow with whom the Prophet Elijah stayed when he was passing through that region. The woman had been very good to Elijah, but in her humanness, she harbored some questions. She knew that Elijah was a holy man, but to be a great prophet puts him into a different realm altogether. Beyond that, as there are today, so in ancient times there were many false prophets. These were people who tried to make a living from giving prophesies. God is not…Continue Reading

Cardinal Mueller Reminds The Church Of Her Marriage Doctrine

May 25, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Cardinal Mueller Reminds The Church Of Her Marriage Doctrine

By MAIKE HICKSON Part 2 (Editor’s Note: We are publishing this commentary from Gerhard Cardinal Mueller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as reported by Maike Hickson, in two parts. The first part appeared in last week’s issue. (OnePeterFive graciously gave The Wanderer reprint permission for this article. All rights reserved. See: www.onepeterfive.com/cardinal-muller-reminds-church-marriage-doctrine/. (Dr. Hickson, born in Germany, studied history and French literature at the University of Hannover.) + + + Mueller continues his very important and timely doctrinal discernment, as follows: “The principle is that no one can really want to receive a Sacrament — the Eucharist — without at the same time having the will to live according to all the other Sacraments, among…Continue Reading