Thursday 18th April 2024

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Culture Of Life 101… “How Dissenters Undermine The Apostolic Mission Of The Church”

April 18, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Culture Of Life 101… “How Dissenters Undermine The Apostolic Mission Of The Church”

By BRIAN CLOWES Part 3 (Editor’s Note: Brian Clowes has been director of research and training at Human Life International since 1995. For an electronic copy of the book Call to Action or Call to Apostasy, consisting of a detailed description of the current forms of dissent and how to fight them, e-mail him at bclowes@hli.org.) + + + “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men” — Jesus, quoting the Prophet Isaiah in the Gospel of Matthew [15:8 9]. + + + The Role of Small Faith Communities: Why SFCs? While they “dialogue” with activist Catholics, dissenters certainly do not…Continue Reading

An Apologetics Course… The Authority Of The Bishops

April 17, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on An Apologetics Course… The Authority Of The Bishops

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 50 Now that we have considered the authority of the Pope, his infallibility, its extension and limits, as well as replied to the most common objections, let us now consider the authority of the bishops. This is important to understand because the Catholic Church is not a dictatorship. Popes do not rule as they see fit, as in a Louis XIV absolute monarch style, according to their personal whims and preferences. They received a mission to work together with the bishops, their fellow-members of the Apostolic College. The Pope continues the mission of St. Peter, and the bishops continue the mission of the other apostles. But even here the bishops are not “successors of…Continue Reading

The Liturgy — Work Of The Holy Trinity

April 16, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Liturgy — Work Of The Holy Trinity

By DON FIER Part 2 We began our examination of the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) on the liturgy as the work of the Holy Trinity last week by focusing on the Father. We saw that God the Father is the “source and goal of the liturgy” and that the notion of blessing that the Catechism employs has a twofold direction. The whole of God’s work from the beginning of time and what He continues to do for us until the end of time is a blessing (cf. CCC, n. 1078). In turn, our response to these manifold blessings is one of “faith and love” which is liturgically expressed by the People of God by our…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

April 15, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. Can you tell me if it is all right to say a scriptural rosary? That is, to begin each decade with the Our Father, then a Scripture line or two, then the ten Hail Marys with a Scripture verse after each one. — F.D., Wisconsin. A. It certainly is all right to intersperse Bible verses in the course of reciting the rosary. After all, we are supposed to think about the particular mystery as we say the prayers. What better way to ward off distractions and focus on the event in the life of Jesus or His Mother than by meditating on a relevant passage from Scripture? Q. How can anyone say that Judas is not in Hell when…Continue Reading

The Cross And Charity

April 14, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Cross And Charity

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fifth Sunday Of Easter (YR C) Readings: Acts 14:21-27 Rev. 21:1-5a John 13:31-33a, 34-35 In the readings today we hear about the glory of God, but also about our own glorification. Our Lord tells us in the Gospel reading that the Son of Man was about to be glorified and that God would be glorified in Him. Of course, our Lord is speaking of the crucifixion in this context. It was on the cross that our Lord gave God more glory than in anything else that had been done on Earth from the beginning of the world. Because the Father was being glorified in this way, He also glorified His Son while on the cross so…Continue Reading

Interview With Robert Cardinal Sarah… “Being Good” Is Not Enough

April 13, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Interview With Robert Cardinal Sarah… “Being Good” Is Not Enough

(Editor’s Note: Rorate Caeli, rorate-caeli.blogspot.com, carried this interview on April 5. The interview first appeared the same day on PCh24.pl, a Polish Catholic website, and was conducted by Izabella Parowicz, Ph.D. Miss Parowicz asked Rorate Caeli to share the interview with its readers, and Rorate Caeli did so. (Rorate Caeli gave The Wanderer reprint permission. All rights reserved.) + + + “ ‘Just being good’ ideology is one of the most dangerous. This leads us to consider everything as ‘good,’ falsifying in this way even all that is truly part of the life of man. Jesus did not say to the adulteress, ‘Well, go and continue to do what you are doing since I forgive you.’ No! Because she threw…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World . . . It’s Not About The Pope

April 11, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World . . . It’s Not About The Pope

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK I think that there has been a lot of unnecessary fuss and the Pope has become a huge distraction. The reason for the existence of the office of the Popes can be overshadowed by the man who holds the office. Although the office of the papacy does not come and go, the men who hold that office do. When the fuss about the human being serving as Pope overshadows all other aspects of the job, then we have a problem. Sometimes a person gets in the way of the end for which the office that person holds was created. “Perception is everything” and the results of the Pope’s behavior are not necessarily entirely his fault.…Continue Reading

An Apologetics Course… Papal Infallibility: Objections Answered

April 10, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on An Apologetics Course… Papal Infallibility: Objections Answered

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 49 As often happened when Jesus was teaching the people in Judea, He faced objections to what He taught them from the Scribes, Sadducees, and Pharisees. The same happens to His Mystical Body, the Church, His Bride. In this article and in the next few ones we shall consider the objections raised against papal infallibility, and answer them. Objection: I have read some arguments given by Popes to justify their teaching that seemed totally childish to me. Why should something like that be infallible? Reply: The authority of the Pope’s teaching is not based on his argumentation. He may or may not use the best arguments, and we may or may not have the…Continue Reading

The Liturgy — Work Of The Holy Trinity

April 9, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Liturgy — Work Of The Holy Trinity

By DON FIER The mysteries which the faithful profess in the Creed — in particular the Paschal Mystery by which Christ redeemed the world — are proclaimed and celebrated by the Church in the liturgy. As we saw last week, the word “liturgy” literally means a public service by and for the people. In contemporary usage, it refers to the official public worship of the Church as distinguished from private devotion. In his Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ, notes that it is used to describe “the special title of the Eucharist and the administration of the sacraments with the annexed use of sacramentals” (p. 322). It also includes the Liturgy of the Hours, the official prayer of…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

April 8, 2016 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. The Church teaches that a marriage after divorce is adultery, but the state disagrees. Must a Catholic county clerk refuse to issue a marriage license to a divorced person? — J.K., New York. A. Many Catholic public officials are increasingly being put into situations that require their cooperation with evil, whether it is adultery, or same-sex unions, or something else. Catholics are forbidden to engage in formal cooperation with evil, which means willing the evil, either by an explicit act of the will or by sharing in the evil act itself (e.g., assisting at an abortion). Then there is material cooperation in which the cooperator performs an act which in itself is not wrong (issuing a marriage license), although…Continue Reading