Thursday 23rd May 2019

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A Leaven In The World… To A Friend One Knows The Way

May 6, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… To A Friend One Knows The Way

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK I reached Naples by train from Rome on my recent stay, and Bacoli by means of another train, a bus, and a short walk. After depositing my luggage at my rooms in the casa canonica, or parish priest’s house, I set out with the street address where my road bike had been stored during the years since my previous visit. It had been my plan to get out on it for exercise in the hilly volcanic area around Naples during the final week of my stay in Italy. The first objective, after reaching the shelter kindly provided by the pastor of St. Ann’s Church, was to obtain the bike. As I say, I had the…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

May 3, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. In the Gospel of Mark (14:51-52), it mentions a young man who followed Jesus into the Garden of Gethsemane “wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body. They seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked.” Many scholars think that the young man was Mark himself. Do we know that for a fact? — D.M., via e-mail. A. No, we don’t, but it is a reasonable speculation. Mark may have chosen to remain anonymous because his flight from the Garden did not put him in the most flattering light. In her excellent commentary on The Gospel of Mark, Scripture scholar Mary Healy says this about the incident: “Who is this young man, and why…Continue Reading

Cardinal Mueller… Pope Benedict Has A “Duty” To Preach Truth About Sex Abuse Crisis

May 1, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Cardinal Mueller… Pope Benedict Has A “Duty” To Preach Truth About Sex Abuse Crisis

By MARTIN M. BARILLAS ROME (LifeSiteNews) — Gerhard Cardinal Mueller, in an interview with an Italian journalist, praised the recent letter by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI regarding homosexuality and clerical sexual abuse while dismissing blame placed on “nebulous” clericalism as a “false answer.” Cardinal Mueller, the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, validated a number of points raised by the former Pope, saying that in parallel to the rest of the world, there was a decline in morality, ethics, and spirituality in the priesthood of the Catholic Church. He said that the contribution by Benedict XVI is “very important in this hour” because the Church is in a “crisis of credibility.” Saying that it is…Continue Reading

Love Jesus As He Loves You

April 30, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Love Jesus As He Loves You

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Third Sunday Of Easter (YR C) Readings: Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41 Rev. 5:11-14 John 21:1-19 In today’s readings, St. Peter has a central place and teaches us much. At the beginning of the Gospel, Peter is with the disciples at the Sea of Galilee and says he is going fishing. Perhaps he just liked fishing, perhaps he needed to pay some bills, or perhaps he was not yet sure of what the future held after the death and Resurrection of our Lord. One thing is for certain: Peter had no doubts about the Resurrection of our Lord. St. John tells us Jesus already revealed Himself twice to His apostles after His Resurrection from the dead. The next…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Roma Et Cetera

April 29, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Roma Et Cetera

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK A flight to Rome on Easter Monday sets the stage for my reflections. An evening departure meant deciding whether or not to attempt sleep on the plane. I declined. I arrived at Leonardo da Vinci Airport, picked up my luggage, then proceeded to buy a ticket for the train to the Eternal City. The lack of trust on the part of Italians meant that if I wanted to purchase my ticket by using the machines, I needed to submit to an extra security check by using the code which was matched to my credit card. That meant I had to know the code. I did not. I decided to buy my ticket instead by an…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

April 26, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. As we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus this Easter, can you give me a short summary of the reasons why we believe that Jesus really rose from the dead? — K.J., via e-mail. A. Defenders of the Resurrection have usually grouped the reasons for the belief in the Resurrection of Jesus into three categories: The empty tomb, the many apparitions in the forty days after Easter, and the transformation of the apostles. Let’s take a close look at each category. The Empty Tomb — Everyone agrees, whether friends or foes of Jesus, that the tomb where our Lord had been buried on Friday night was empty on Sunday morning. That fact was attested to by Mary Magdalene and the…Continue Reading

Looking To Cardinal Sarah . . . The Arrival Of Spiritual And Religious Collapse

April 24, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Looking To Cardinal Sarah . . . The Arrival Of Spiritual And Religious Collapse

By FR. SHENAN 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 April 15, 2019. Fr. Boquet is the president of HLI.) + + + Recently I traveled to Phoenix in order to lead a mission. When I arrived at the airport, I was stunned to see a group of people holding signs welcoming home a child who had either just undergone a “sex change” or who was traveling to Phoenix for the procedure. A child! This sight, so public, and so deeply tragic, was just one more stark reminder of the all-out war that is being waged in the West on traditional Judeo-Christian values, not to mention basic…Continue Reading

Do Not Doubt, But Believe

April 23, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Do Not Doubt, But Believe

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Second Sunday Of Easter, Divine Mercy (YR C) Readings: Acts 5:12-16 Rev. 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19 John 20:19-31 Today we celebrate the Feast of Divine Mercy, a Feast our Lord Himself requested through St. Faustina. Mercy has been indispensable throughout history, but in God’s Providence He has waited until our own time to ask for a liturgical celebration in honor of His mercy. It is a day awaited by many each year because our Lord promised special graces for those who celebrate His mercy today. (Please note: Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing in the Diary of St. Faustina about going to Confession or receiving a complete pardon on Divine Mercy Sunday.) Indeed, we see the…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… To Rise From The Ashes, To Quit The Tomb

April 22, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… To Rise From The Ashes, To Quit The Tomb

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK A blessed Easter to all of our readers. “The Lord is risen. Alleluia!” Christ’s story, recounted in the Scriptures proclaimed liturgically in these holy days, must become our story, too. Easter is our most important annual celebration of this fact. Baptized as we are into Christ’s death, we must live so as to rise with Him who has risen before us. In these most joyful days of our Easter octave, we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord as one long Easter Day, the Sunday of Sundays. The joy which marks our prayer of the Holy Mass each Sunday throughout the year is anchored by the fact of the first Easter Sunday and the discovery of…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

April 19, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: It is easy to get discouraged at the state of the Church these days, particularly at the decline in the number of Religious sisters from 181,000 in 1965 to about 47,000 today, which Fr. George Rutler blames partly on those orders which “accepted bad advice from misguided and misguiding theologians and leaders. Bishops often have been at fault, timorous about correcting error, cheerily giving out diplomas while the spiritual foundations of the school sank. It took a courage usually lacking to point out that serious mistakes were being made, and many Religious, due to their errors, abandoning community life and even Religious habits, and replacing doctrine with secular dogmas about ‘Peace and Justice’ and even ‘climate change’ —…Continue Reading