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Solemnity Of The Holy Trinity (YR A)

June 5, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Solemnity Of The Holy Trinity (YR A)

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Readings: Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9 2 Cor. 13:11-13 John 3:16-18 Our Communion Of Love With God In the Gospel reading today St. John tells us that God so loved the world that He sent His only-begotten Son into the world so that we might have eternal life. When we consider the gravity of our own sins and then consider the sins of the whole world, it is astounding to us to think that God loves us at all, let alone loving us so much that He would send His only Son to die for us. Yet that is the truth of the matter. We all know this in our heads, but we have to try to open…Continue Reading

At Thomas Aquinas College . . . Hold Fast To Jerusalem, Athens, And Rome

June 4, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on At Thomas Aquinas College . . . Hold Fast To Jerusalem, Athens, And Rome

By EDWIN CARDINAL O’BRIEN (Editor’s Note: Edwin Cardinal O’Brien, Grand Master, Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, delivered the following commencement address to the Thomas Aquinas College class of 2014, May 17, in Santa Paula, Calif. Thomas Aquinas College, www.thomasaquinas.edu, provided the text. All rights reserved.) +    +    + An old Irish joke has it that a commencement speaker is like the deceased at an Irish wake: You have to have him so that the party can begin! Thank you for inviting me to share this special day with you on this beautiful campus, which so magnificently evokes both faith and reason, and which reminds us that beauty is a unique path to God in our confused and…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes . . . St. Norbert

June 3, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Heroes . . . St. Norbert

By CAROLE BRESLIN Studying the history of the Church or simply reading about the saints, we find that the development of spirituality through the centuries is strikingly consistent. Just as the understanding of doctrine has become more clearly defined through the centuries, spiritual practices have become more and more understood with such saints as St. Teresa of Avila, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Therese of Lisieux, and St. Francis of Assisi. A noble from western Germany, St. Norbert, came before all of them — around the turn of the 12th century. Yet his life reveals that he started a third order and did a retreat with a general Confession similar to the third order of Franciscans and the Spiritual Exercises…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Pope Demonstrates Perils And Benefits Of Spontaneity

June 2, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… Pope Demonstrates Perils And Benefits Of Spontaneity

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Pope Francis granted an interview to journalists on the flight back to Rome after his Holy Land pilgrimage. Longtime Vatican journalist John L. Allen Jr. weighed the pros and cons of “letting it all hang out,” as he called it, in a subsequent Boston Globe article. Popes rarely if ever granted interviews without first having had an opportunity to review the proposed questions. Pope Francis has eschewed this kind of caution and did so again in a repeat of his blockbuster interview on the plane returning from World Youth Day in Rio. One of the cons was that Pope Francis let slip word for the first time that he plans to meet with sexual abuse…Continue Reading

Are Statues Idols? Why Statues And Idols Are Two Different Things

June 1, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Are Statues Idols? Why Statues And Idols Are Two Different Things

By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 1 For quite some time I have been intrigued by the constant repetition common among non-Catholics that to have statues in church or at home smacks of idolatry. I remember the first time I was pushed against the wall by a Baptist man in a conversation: He simply said to me that it was a shame that such an evident Bible teaching was blatantly and systematically ignored by the Roman Catholic Church: God clearly forbade the carving of images, idols, and of honoring them. And yet Catholics fill up their churches and homes with images of saints and angels, which are abhorrent to God’s saints and His angels. In those days I did not…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

May 30, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. I do not remember a homily regarding contraception in years! From what I understand, a majority of Catholics do not adhere to this regulation. I believe that in many dioceses the regulation spoken from the pulpit would decimate the numbers of church attendance. Thus, it appears this is more important than transmitting the true teachings of the Church. I hold the bishops responsible to a large extent. Isn’t it written somewhere that at the Second Coming, there won’t be any believers? — R.B.K., Virginia. A. You may be thinking of the words of Jesus at the conclusion of the parable of the widow and the unjust judge. Noting that the judge finally found in favor of the widow because…Continue Reading

The Indwelling Of The Holy Spirit

May 29, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Indwelling Of The Holy Spirit

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Solemnity Of Pentecost (YR A) Readings: Acts 2:1-11 1 Cor. 12:3b-7, 12-13 John 20:19-23 Between the first reading and the Gospel reading for today we are struck with an apparent contradiction. The reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us that the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in tongues of fire on the day of Pentecost, i.e., the fiftieth day. Indeed, we celebrate this feast fifty days after our Lord’s Resurrection and commemorate the giving of the promised Paraclete. However, the Gospel reading tells us of Jesus breathing on His disciples and telling them to receive the Holy Spirit. This happened on the evening of Easter Sunday. So, is there a contradiction here? No.…Continue Reading

The International Day of Families

May 28, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The International Day of Families

By MOST REV. VINCENZO PAGLIA NEW YORK (ZENIT) — The president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, gave the following address on the occasion of the 2014 International Day of Families at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, May 15, 2014. +    +    + The Family At The Heart Of Human Development It is a great honor and a pleasure to address you in this Event being conducted in conjunction with the celebration of 2014 International Day of Families organized by the Division for Social Policy and Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to mark the 20th anniversary of the International Year of the Family,…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes . . . St. Joan Of Arc

May 27, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Heroes . . . St. Joan Of Arc

By CAROLE BRESLIN In the 15th century up in northeastern France, the Hundred Years War continued year after year. The people of the province of Lorraine lived on the border of the conflict between the supporters of the insane King Charles VI of France and King Henry V of England, who invaded Normandy, and claimed the crown of France for himself. After the death of Charles VI, the crowning of the next king was delayed. In the tiny village of Domrémy in Lorraine, on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 1412, a small family marked the birth of a most amazing maiden, St. Jeanne La Pucelle, better known as St. Joan of Arc. While her parents were not destitute,…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World . . . Priests Should Not Use The Language Of The “Gay Lobby”

May 26, 2014 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World . . . Priests Should Not Use The Language Of The “Gay Lobby”

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Pope Francis had made clear that we are to reach out in pastoral care to homosexual persons with the charity of Christ while rejecting the “gay lobby.” Language is important and the battle for hearts and minds today begins with the war of words. The “gay lobby” knows this and is very clear those who are part of it will not compromise on their terminology, and insist on using the term “gay” while vociferously rejecting the phrase “same-sex attraction” or SSA. Why are these distinctions important? “Gay” is often used to promote and glorify same-sex genital activity and SSA describes only the attraction while leaving open the possibility which freedom confers on every human person…Continue Reading