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A Leaven In The World . . . God Does Not Come Through The Computer

September 29, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World . . . God Does Not Come Through The Computer

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Virtual reality can never serve as “parish replacement therapy” for “Catholics on leave.” Many believers remain alienated as a result of personal choices from the life of the Church. Some of them have been known to post about their frustrations on Facebook, writing such things as, “Continue to wait for answers…” God, however, does not come to us through our computers. Although there are many ways to find traces of God — for example, in the things that He has made — His Church remains the perfect and most secure place to meet, know, and love Him because of His Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, her founder and Lord who continues to come to the world…Continue Reading

Priestly Celibacy: Unnatural? Or…Supernatural? The Biblical Foundations Of Celibacy: Summing Up

September 28, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Priestly Celibacy: Unnatural? Or…Supernatural? The Biblical Foundations Of Celibacy: Summing Up

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 6 MThe Catholic priesthood is God’s holy calling (2 Tim. 1:5-9) to some men to follow Jesus’ footsteps more closely (St. Augustine). The priest is called to be an angel of the Lord, always keeping His Law in his mouth (Mal. 2:7). A truly celibate priest is one who is a real man, who understands human nature and offers a sacrifice to Heaven for the sake of a higher good: the promotion of the glory of God and the salvation of souls. He acts in persona Christi, in the person of Christ, in the imitation of Jesus Christ as perfectly as possible, including in Jesus’ celibacy. The Old Testament provides hints about God’s desire…Continue Reading

Catechism Of the Catholic Church: Prologue

September 27, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catechism Of the Catholic Church: Prologue

By Don Fier “Father, . . . this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ” (John 17:3). This Scripture verse, the opening words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), succinctly and beautifully expresses its very purpose. The CCC’s first paragraph goes on to expand on this teaching of Jesus Christ: “God, . . . in a plan of sheer goodness, freely created man to make him share in His own blessed life. . . . He calls man to seek Him, to know Him, to love Him with all his strength. To accomplish this, . . . God sent His Son as Redeemer and Savior.”…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

September 26, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. What do you know about the Concordant Literal Version of the Bible? — G.P., Florida. A. It is published by the Concordant Publishing Concern in Almont, Mich., which describes itself as “a nondenominational, nonprofit association founded in 1909 for the purpose of disseminating the facts and truths of the ancient manuscripts of the Scriptures.” The company’s website says that “the Concordant Version presents God’s Word in a most useful form. It is a literal translation, seeking to carry over the original text through a consistent ‘concordant’ English vocabulary. The type is large and readable, with boldface representing the actual English translation of the original Greek and lightface showing English words added for idiomatic clarity or to reflect grammatical significance.”…Continue Reading

Bearing Great Fruit

September 25, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Bearing Great Fruit

BY FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Seventh Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 5:1-7 Phil. 4:6-9 Matt. 21:33-43   In the first reading today we hear about God’s choice of Israel, and Jerusalem in particular, as the people from whom He expects great fruit to be produced. In the reading Israel is likened to a vineyard in which only the choicest vines were planted and everything was done to guarantee an abundant harvest of the best grapes. However, when the owner of the vineyard came seeking the grapes, he found that the vines had produced wild grapes. The type of grapes he was expecting to find are people living holy and virtuous lives. Instead of justice and judgment there was…Continue Reading

The Glory Of God Reaches Its Fullness In Jesus Christ

September 24, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Glory Of God Reaches Its Fullness In Jesus Christ

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE (Editor’s Note: Raymond Cardinal Burke, prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, recently traveled to Australia, where he visited Sydney and Melbourne, giving multiple talks to the public, and met with two gatherings of priests organized by the Australian Confraternity. (Other organizations involved with and sponsoring his visit included the Parish of Blessed John Henry Newman in Melbourne, the World Congress of Families, the University of Sydney Catholic Chaplaincy, and Oriens. (Below is his sermon for the conferral of the Sacrament of Confirmation and Solemn Pontifical Mass at the Throne, Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost, at the Parish of Blessed John Henry Newman, St. Aloysius Church, Caulfield North, Australia, August 31, 2014. (His Eminence’s office kindly supplied the…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Love Has No Limits In Faith And In Life

September 22, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Love Has No Limits In Faith And In Life

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK We have done a very good job of catechizing our Catholics that Sunday Mass is obligatory. Now we need to educate them that Sunday Mass is not the only thing necessary. For many years I would nod in agreement when people would say, “Well, at least if we can get our kids to Mass they’ll be all right.” But at the same time other parents would come to me and say, “Father, my children don’t go to Mass anymore,” often with tears in their eyes. These were parents from the same generation that has been using a minimal participation standard for Catholic life in regard to Sunday Mass. After spending time observing families more closely…Continue Reading

Priestly Celibacy: Unnatural? Or . . . Supernatural? The Faith Of The Early Christians

September 21, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Priestly Celibacy: Unnatural? Or . . . Supernatural? The Faith Of The Early Christians

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 5 It is a very comfortable position for the defenders of sola Scriptura to wish to interpret it according to their own criteria. In so doing, they pick and choose verses here and there to justify their views. God’s first commandment to mankind, “Be fruitful and multiply,” seems to be the “dogma” against celibacy. But they fail to see the context, the hints in the Old Testament pointing to a future celibacy, the difference between commandment and counsel, the teachings of Jesus Himself and especially of St. Paul, who explicitly recommends celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. One could ask them this simple question: How did the early Christians understand the…Continue Reading

Catechesis In The Twenty-First Century

September 20, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catechesis In The Twenty-First Century

By Don Fier “In order to arrive at a systematic knowledge of the content of the faith, all can find in the Catechism of the Catholic Church a precious and indispensable tool. It is one of the most important fruits of the Second Vatican Council.” With these words in his apostolic letter Porta Fidei announcing the upcoming Year of Faith (October 11, 2012-November 24, 2013), Pope Benedict XVI stressed the incalculable importance that the Catechism needs to play for the faithful to truly understand what our precious Catholic faith professes. With the Holy Father’s words to serve as a fitting backdrop, this column is the introductory installment of a long-running series of articles by which The Wanderer intends to take…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

September 19, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. I am currently reading Paul Likoudis’ excellent but shocking book Amchurch Comes Out, regarding incidents of immoral conduct among our clergy, the cover-up, and the accompanying damage that has been wrought within the Church. I recall being alarmed while involved with religious education in our then parish in the late 1980s and attending diocesan seminars for teachers and hearing such things as, “Conscience is formed by our life experiences — Church, television, movies, society. If the Church says ‘Y’ but your conscience says ‘X’ you must do ‘X’ and it is not a sin. You may be criticized by the Church. We must take possession of our conscience and follow it.” However, my wife and I are no longer…Continue Reading