Friday 26th April 2019

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Crushed By The Weight Of Sin

April 9, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Crushed By The Weight Of Sin

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Palm Sunday (YR C) Readings: Luke 19:28-40 Isaiah 50:4-7 Phil. 2:6-11 Luke 22:14-23:56 In the second reading St. Paul speaks of the profound humility of our Lord, saying He did not deem equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave. The idea that God would lower Himself to become a man is so unthinkable that even the highest of the angels was unable to accept it. But God, who is absolute and perfect love, is therefore, absolute and perfect humility because humility and charity are directly connected: The height of charity is equal to the depth of humility. Since this is a one to one correlation, absolute love…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Brave New Vatican: Handkerchiefs And Hubris

April 8, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Brave New Vatican: Handkerchiefs And Hubris

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The Church is suffering grievously from the deleterious effects of the sin of pride. The mania of constant reference to Vatican II in nearly all matters constitutes a sickness for those who seem to recall the past only to condemn its faults. Pride seems to play a major role in this malady. “Pride goeth before the fall,” which, in this case, is forgetting history and being condemned as a result to repeat it. You see, one of the reasons we study the past is to avoid repeating errors. Recent years in the Church are replete with examples but they are legion under the current pontificate. Cozying up to Communists and betraying the faithful Catholics in…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

April 5, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: Writing in his parish bulletin (Church of St. Michael in New York City) on the feast of St. Patrick, Fr. George Rutler discussed the distressing situation in Ireland. He said that “the majority of Irish people failed to heed the warnings of St. John Paul II when he became the first pontiff to set foot on the soil of Eire in 1979. He preached to 1.25 million faithful at a Mass in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Last year, Pope Francis offered Holy Mass in the same place, and fewer than 130,000 showed up. Four months later, the Druids returned and defiantly danced in the streets when abortion was legalized. The Taoiseach (Prime Minister) was elected while publicly living in…Continue Reading

More Necessary Than Ever… The Gifts Of Wonder And Awe

April 3, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on More Necessary Than Ever… The Gifts Of Wonder And Awe

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope is the pastor of Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian, Washington, D.C. Monsignor kindly gave The Wanderer permission to reprint this essay from his blog. All rights reserved.) + + + There is a remarkable interaction with God in the Book of Exodus that shows the balance we must develop in how we understand and relate to Him. Many of us get the balance wrong by turning God into a doting grandfather figure or seeing Him as an angry despot just waiting for any misstep. Trivializing or domesticating God is the more common error today, but we ought not to underestimate the number of people who struggle to find in God a loving Father.…Continue Reading

A New-Found Freedom

April 2, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A New-Found Freedom

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fifth Sunday Of Lent (YR C) Readings: Isaiah 43:16-21 Phil. 3:8-14 John 8:1-11 In the first reading God says He is doing something new; He follows this by asking: “Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” The context of these statements brings us to consider the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt. Initially Isaiah speaks of the crossing of the Red Sea, but then he says we are not to remember the things of the past. What follows is a discussion of the events that took place in the desert after the people crossed the Red Sea. Certainly, everything that happened to the Israelites in the desert took place in the past, so are we to…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Mission Impossible: Redefining Love, Redefining God

April 1, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Mission Impossible: Redefining Love, Redefining God

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK God is our Father. We call Him Father often even as we pray the words our Lord Himself taught us. What we mean by that one person to another can be very different. We also say “God is love.” We only know this however, because it has been revealed to us. The identity crisis in the culture has affected fatherhood. With the concept of fatherhood itself poisoned, the revelation of God as our Father has a diseased and myopic reception in the world today. Robert Cardinal Sarah is promoting his new book, written in French. About it he says, “I am pleased to announce the release in France — on March 20th — of my…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

March 29, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. You said recently that the matter for Holy Communion (wheat flour and water) has not changed since Vatican II and that you don’t know of anyone getting sick from receiving the Eucharist. But what about those with a medical condition, such as Celiac Disease, who cannot ingest anything with wheat in it? — P.S. Nebraska. A. Although we have written about Celiac sufferers in the past (see pages 297-299 of the book Catholic Replies 2), we were not thinking of them when we wrote the reply you mentioned, and we apologize for the oversight. Celiac Disease is an allergic reaction to the gluten in wheat that damages the digestive system and predisposes its victims to osteoporosis, neurological illnesses, and…Continue Reading

Transgenderism . . . The Next Terrible Step In The Sexual Revolution

March 27, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Transgenderism . . . The Next Terrible Step In The Sexual Revolution

By FR. SHENAN J. BOQUET (Editor’s Note: This article is reprinted with permission of Human Life International, www.hli.org. It first appeared at www.hli.org on March 11, 2019. Fr. Boquet is the president of HLI.) + + + Disturbing new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) highlight the grave dangers that the transgender ideology poses to children. A new survey of 131,901 public school students has found that nearly two percent of students in grades 9-12 identify as “transgender.” That translates into a staggering number of teenagers suffering profound confusion about their identity and all the accompanying psychological and physical risks. While reliable statistics about the rates of transgenderism among high school students across time are hard to…Continue Reading

Penance Leads To Joy In The Lord

March 26, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Penance Leads To Joy In The Lord

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fourth Sunday In Lent (YR C) Readings: Joshua 5:9a, 10-12 2 Cor. 5:17-21 Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 The Mass today is about conversion. Conversion means to turn around, to go the opposite direction. We see the opposites today as the Church reminds us to forge ahead with our Lenten resolutions because they will bring great joy to us when they are complete. Having passed the halfway mark of Lent, we celebrate Laetare Sunday; rejoicing in the midst of our penance. People often associate penance with sadness, somberness, or even suffering. The saints, on the other hand, teach us that the things we think of in a negative way are really causes for joy because they are being…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… In Conversation With Islam

March 25, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… In Conversation With Islam

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK In light of the recent shooting at a mosque in New Zealand, a senseless tragedy with the destruction of at least 49 human lives, public conversation turned again to Muslims and their beliefs and our relationship with them. I recalled my own experience of a conversation with a Muslim some years ago. Many who do not share their beliefs now have opportunities to speak with Muslims which, though once rare, is more and more possible as a result of immigration and increased travel. It does not, however, change the facts about Islam. Although some adherents are peaceful people, the fact remains that the Koran does require violence for conversions. It is possible that some Muslims…Continue Reading