Monday 28th September 2020

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Understanding Forgiveness

September 8, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Understanding Forgiveness

Twenty-Fourth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Sirach 27:30-28:7Romans 14:7-9Matt. 18:21-35 By FR. ROBERT ALTIER In the second reading St. Paul says: “None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord.” Since we live in the most selfish society history has known, we each need to ask: “Is that true for me?” Do I live for the Lord or do I live for myself?St. Paul is quite clear that if we are Christian, we must live for the Lord. It would seem that to live for oneself is opposed to being a true Christian.Being human and, therefore, being…Continue Reading

Bishop Strickland . . . The Gospel Of Work: Recovering A Catholic Vision

September 7, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Bishop Strickland . . . The Gospel Of Work: Recovering A Catholic Vision

By MOST REV. JOSEPH STRICKLAND On Labor Day weekend most of us take a break from what we refer to as our “jobs” to rest and re-create. We are invited to honor human work and all human workers. It is a unique secular holiday with profound Christian potential. Many gather for late summer cookouts and celebrations. We may sleep in a bit later than usual and relax from what is so often a frenzied pace in our contemporary pattern of life.For many parents, Labor Day weekend marks a transition from the hectic pace of the summer to the new hectic pace of the school year. For students and teachers, it is also a portal into the new school year when…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

September 4, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. I just finished reading Infiltration by Taylor Marshall. I found it quite disturbing. Do you have an opinion about its veracity? — E.S., New Jersey.A. The book, which is subtitled “The Plot to Destroy the Church from Within,” contains some accurate information and some material that lacks solid evidence to back it up. Let us give some examples of each.First of all, the author says that “Satan uniquely entered the Catholic Church at some point over the last century, or even before that” (p. 3). He correctly cites the statement of Pope Paul VI in 1972 that “the smoke of Satan has entered the Church of God” (p. 5). But Marshall also alleges that “for over a century, the…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Re-Elect The Most Pro-Life President

September 3, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Re-Elect The Most Pro-Life President

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK In a sinful world there is unfortunately much to be gained by evil. But only in this world. With the eclipse of faith, there now number many who will do evil if it pays more than good. The good for such souls does not include the highest good of eternal life and the prospect of final judgment by a good and loving God who is also the author of the Ten Commandments.Abortion is the tragic and primary example. The struggle between light and darkness will only end with this world. Until then we must claim our status as children of the light who seek eternal life by avoiding all compromise with evil.Thus we must continue…Continue Reading

The Meaning Of Prophecy

September 2, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Meaning Of Prophecy

BY FR. ROBERT ALTIERTwenty-Third Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Ezek. 33:7-9Romans 13:8-10Matt. 18:15-20 In the first reading, God tells Ezekiel he has been appointed watchman over the house of Israel. As such, Ezekiel is to warn the people according to God’s command. If Ezekiel fails, he will be held responsible for the person’s death, but if Ezekiel is obedient and the person refuses to repent, Ezekiel is not responsible. This might sound harsh to us, but it is actually the prophetic vocation.Most people think of prophecy as predicting the future. God can tell His prophets whatever He pleases, so sometimes He speaks to them of future things. However, if we read the prophets carefully, we will find that…Continue Reading

Bishop Strickland . . . The Living Word In God’s Written Word

August 31, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Bishop Strickland . . . The Living Word In God’s Written Word

By MOST REV. JOSEPH STRICKLAND In the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum), we read this insight concerning the Sacred Scriptures, the written Word, the Holy Bible: “(I)n the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven meets His children with great love and speaks with them; and the force and power in the word of God is so great that it stands as the support and energy of the Church, the strength of faith for her sons, the food of the soul, the pure and everlasting source of spiritual life” (n. 21).The insight provides a key to fruitfully reading the Bible, and encountering the Lord in that reading. The Living Word, Jesus, speaks to us through the written…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

August 28, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: Commenting on the new “religion of Woke,” which believes that “American society is irredeemably racist and heteronormative and, therefore, must be torn down,” William Kilpatrick of the Turning Point Project says that “the religion of Woke is not really a new religion. It’s simply one more iteration of an old religion — the religion of humanism. The basic assumption of this religion is that there is nothing higher than man and the institutions he has created. Despite the pleasant-sounding name, ‘humanistic’ religions regularly end up committing human sacrifice of one kind or another. The good of the individual is sacrificed to the needs of the state. Preborn babies are sacrificed to the ‘quality of life.’ And dissenters from…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World . . . Receiving Communion Means Obedience To Fullness Of Faith

August 26, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World . . . Receiving Communion Means Obedience To Fullness Of Faith

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The faith which Christ proposes offers true freedom. “For freedom Christ has set us free,” as St. Paul teaches.The Church continues the preaching of the good news about this new life which the Lord offers, and without which no human person is freed from the bondage of unbelief or enslavement to idols.Almighty God created us in the freedom of His loving initiative. He created us in His image and thus endowed us with free will.The initiative of salvation is a free encounter with God Incarnate in Jesus Christ. Faith in Him is a continuing choice to conform our lives to His incarnate Revelation of the truth about love.Of course there are false prophets. The Lord…Continue Reading

Be Prepared For Trials

August 25, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Be Prepared For Trials

BY FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Second Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Jer. 20:7-9Romans 12:1-2Matt. 16:21-27 Be Prepared For Trials In the first reading today, the Prophet Jeremiah, feeling somewhat crushed by his interior struggles, cries out to the Lord: “You duped my Lord, and I allowed myself to be duped.” He goes on to talk about how he is mocked and reviled and how he has to preach a message the people do not want to hear. We have to ask ourselves: “Does God really dupe us?”Recall when St. John is given a scroll by the angel and told to eat it; the scroll was sweet to the taste but became sour in his stomach. The Word of God…Continue Reading

Bishop Strickland . . . Male And Female, He Created Them

August 24, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Bishop Strickland . . . Male And Female, He Created Them

By MOST REV. JOSEPH STRICKLAND Rejecting the gift of sexual difference is a rejection of the giver.In June of 2019, the Congregation for Catholic Education of the Vatican issued, Male and Female He Created Them: Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education. In this document, the congregation sought to engage a growing trend in educational institutions to reject the gift of sexual difference. Its introductory paragraph frames the entire document:“It is becoming increasingly clear that we are now facing with what might accurately be called an educational crisis, especially in the field of affectivity and sexuality. In many places, curricula are being planned and implemented which ‘allegedly convey a neutral conception of the person…Continue Reading