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The Incarnation Is For Our Redemption

December 10, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Incarnation Is For Our Redemption

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fourth Sunday Of Advent (YR C) Readings: Micah 5:1-4 Heb. 10:5-10 Luke 1:39-45 In the readings today we hear about our Lord’s Incarnation at its beginning, at His birth, and in its purpose. We hear about the beginning in the Gospel where our Lady visits St. Elizabeth whose baby, St. John the Baptist, leaps in her womb for joy in the presence of the Lord. We hear about His birth in the first reading where the Prophet Micah tells us where the Messiah is to be born. We hear about the purpose and fulfillment of the Incarnation in the second reading where St. Paul explains the need for our Lord to have a body in order…Continue Reading

Pope’s Homily At Mass At Bangui Cathedral . . . Arms Yourselves With Righteousness And Mercy

December 9, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Pope’s Homily At Mass At Bangui Cathedral . . . Arms Yourselves With Righteousness And Mercy

BANGUI, Central African Republic (ZENIT) — Here is a Vatican translation of the homily Pope Francis gave November 29 when he celebrated Mass for the First Sunday of Advent at the cathedral of Bangui, Central African Republic. The Holy Father said in part: “To all those who make unjust use of the weapons of this world, I make this appeal: Lay down these instruments of death! Arm yourselves instead with righteousness, with love and mercy, the authentic guarantors of peace.” Immediately prior to the Mass, the Pontiff opened the Holy Door for the Jubilee of Mercy. ZENIT News Agency provided the text of the Holy Father’s homily. All rights reserved. + + + On this First Sunday of Advent, the…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World . . . Our Society Not A “Safe Space” For Human Beings

December 7, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World . . . Our Society Not A “Safe Space” For Human Beings

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK A society which will not do all in its power to defend the smallest and most vulnerable among us encourages the kind of disrespect for life which leads to violence and destruction of life in all its stages, such as we have seen recently in Colorado Springs and elsewhere. As Mother Teresa said so well, “It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” It turns out that the poverty for which we have wished in our murderous society is precisely the atmosphere of more violence, more deaths of children and others in the scourge of murders across our country outside of Planned Parenthood abortuaries as…Continue Reading

An Apologetics Course . . . The History Of The Orthodox Churches

December 6, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on An Apologetics Course . . . The History Of The Orthodox Churches

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Leaving aside the multiplicity of churches and sects and denominations and groups of all sorts, colors, and flavors in the plethora of individual creeds in the Protestant doctrinal plateau de fromage, one may ask whether or not there are churches in the world today that are closer to the Church of Jesus Christ. And the answer is yes. The various churches known as “Orthodox” are such churches. There is not one single Orthodox Church, but many. Not as prolific in multiplication as the Protestant churches, which split and sub-split all the time, the Orthodox churches have, by and large, unity of faith and morals, but not of government. There are four patriarchs — those of…Continue Reading

The Communion Of Saints

December 5, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Communion Of Saints

By DON FIER Part 2 One of the most important and consoling dogmas that we firmly hold as members of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church is contained in the second clause of the ninth article of the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe in . . . the communion of saints.” So key and central is this doctrine that the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) unequivocally states: “The communion of saints is the Church” (n. 946, emphasis added). It is an affirmation for faithful believers that death is not the end. The Church continues beyond this “vale of tears” which is ours on Earth — beyond all limitations of space and time. “The communion of saints,” says Christoph Cardinal…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

December 4, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: For some valuable perspective on the recent radical Islamist terrorist attacks in Paris, consider the following remarks by Fr. George Rutler of the Church of St. Michael in New York City: “When the haters of remnant Christian civilization struck Paris last Friday the 13th, many kept saying that it was ‘unreal’ and ‘inexplicable.’ But the blood was real, and the cruelty was totally explicable by the history of false religion and its embrace of evil. Fittingly, when the attack began in that concert hall, the band was playing a cacophonous piece, barely distinguishable from gunfire, called ‘Kiss the Devil.’ “Only those afflicted with the illusion of secular progressivism as a substitute for the Gospel seem bewildered. Evil is…Continue Reading

Rejoice In The Lord

December 3, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Rejoice In The Lord

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Third Sunday Of Advent (YR C) Readings: Zeph. 3:14-18a Phil. 4:4-7 Luke 3:1-18 At the end of the Gospel reading today, St. Luke provides a bit of commentary on the preaching of St. John the Baptist. After the Baptist states, regarding our Lord, that he will “gather the wheat into the barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire,” St. Luke says that St. John the Baptist preached the good news to the people. The thought of the chaff being burned up in an unquenchable fire may not seem like very good news to some of us. But that is to put the focus on the wrong place. The good news is that our…Continue Reading

Pope Francis Arrives In Kenya… May God Sustain You In Your Efforts For Justice And Peace

December 2, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Pope Francis Arrives In Kenya… May God Sustain You In Your Efforts For Justice And Peace

(Editor’s Note: The Holy Father arrived in Kenya on November 25, the beginning of his apostolic journey to Africa, November 25-30, set to also include visits to Uganda and the Central African Republic. (Below are some reports about his arrival, as well as the text of Pope Francis’ English-language discourse to authorities of the diplomatic corps of Kenya during his official welcome ceremony in the State House of Nairobi. (ZENIT News Agency provided this material. All rights reserved.) + + + The evening of November 24, Pope Francis traveled to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore to pray for the success of his trip to Africa, which began the next morning, according to a report by Deborah Castellano Lubov. This…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World . . Critique Of Church Art Is Not Comment On Sponsors’ Faith

November 30, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World . . Critique Of Church Art Is Not Comment On Sponsors’ Faith

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK I recently received a phone call in which I was informed that a tweeted comment of mine on the Twitter social network about the interaction between some chapel visitors and sacred art recently installed therein had, in effect, called into question the faith of that chapel’s proprietors in the Real Presence. Although I did not point it out in the context of the phone call, that reaction involved a judgment which itself was unwarranted. The best defense is a good offense. The sanctuary lamp in the chapel in question is a small oil-lamp style flame which may be difficult for some to see, but also is quite different from the red glass votive which signals…Continue Reading

An Apologetics Course . . . The Rule Of Faith Is The Church’s Teaching Authority

November 29, 2015 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on An Apologetics Course . . . The Rule Of Faith Is The Church’s Teaching Authority

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 30 In order to finish the discussion on the revolution caused by Martin Luther nearly 500 years ago, let us consider his first major dogma, namely, sola Scriptura. Any Catholic — especially The Wanderer readers — who want to take their faith seriously and apply the criteria laid down by John Paul II in his encyclical Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason) must apply reason to Luther’s concept of “faith” in order to dispel any misapprehension about this important issue. The primordial fact is that Jesus Christ did not give us the Gospel, let alone the whole Bible, as the first and only rule of faith. He gave us the Church, endowed with bishops…Continue Reading