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Catholic Replies

June 24, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This series on Apologetics is based on the book Catholicism & Reason. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. You can send them either to the postal mailing address or to the email address below, and we will interrupt this series to answer them. Special Course On Catholicism And Reason (Chapter 20) Another name for the Catholic Church is the Mystical Body of Christ on Earth. Just as all the parts of the human body are connected and depend on each other, so, too, all the members of the Mystical Body are connected and depend on each other. This means that…Continue Reading

Dangerous Scams And Scandalous Men

June 23, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Dangerous Scams And Scandalous Men

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK I anticipated a coming storm with pleasure on this early morning as I write. I welcomed the sounds of approaching thunder as a sign of beneficence. I had decided late this spring, after some initial hesitation, that I would participate in the seasonal ritual of sowing and growing after all.There are days it seems the only aspect of our lives upon which we can reliably depend are the rotation of the Earth, the change of seasons and the obedience of nature to her Master. Planting the seeds of vegetables which promise future food also nourishes with sign and symbol the hopes of the spirit — so often frustrated in these times. The flowers which glorify…Continue Reading

One And One And One Are One By MSGR. CHARLES POPE

June 22, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on One And One And One Are One By MSGR. CHARLES POPE

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this article on June 11. It is reprinted here with permission.) + + There is an old spiritual that says, “My God is so high you can’t get over Him. He’s so low you can’t get under Him. He’s so wide you can’t get around Him. You must come in, by and through the Lamb.”It’s not a bad way of saying that God is “other.” He is beyond what human words can describe, beyond what human thoughts can conjure. On the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity we do well to remember that we are pondering a mystery that cannot fit in our minds.A mystery, though, is not something wholly…Continue Reading

The Yoke Of Christ

June 20, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Yoke Of Christ

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Thirteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR C) Readings:1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21Gal. 5:1, 13-18Luke 9:51-62 In the first reading today, the Prophet Elijah walks up behind Elisha and puts his cloak over Elisha’s shoulders. The cloak, or mantle, was the sign of a prophet, so this gesture showed that Elisha was to be the successor to Elijah. Having the prophetic graces given him by the Lord, Elisha understood immediately what this meant and asked for the indulgence of taking a proper leave of his family.However, we see from the text that Elisha did far more than bid his parents goodbye; he slaughtered the twelve yoke of oxen and used the yokes a fuel to boil the flesh…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

June 17, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. A recent Mass reading from chapter 15 of the Acts of the Apostles talked about the decision of the Apostles at the Council of Jerusalem not to require Gentile converts to become Jews before becoming Christians. They decided to send a letter to Gentile converts telling them “to avoid pollution from idols, unlawful marriage, the meat of strangled animals, and blood” (15:20). Can you explain these conditions? — P.H., via e-mail.A. Avoiding pollution from idols referred to eating meat that had been sacrificed to pagan gods. Unlawful marriage meant engaging in any kind of sexual immorality, including incest, adultery, homosexuality, and bestiality. The meat of strangled animals meant meat that had not been properly drained of blood. And the…Continue Reading

Chaos

June 12, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Chaos

BY Cindy Paslawski      Chaos is the best word to describe what is going on around us now. Supply chain problems, jarring fuel prices, shaky economies, war in Ukraine which threatens to expand, coming aggression on the part of China. And then, because of lack of power sources, there is a possibility of rolling blackouts around the country to conserve energy. The list goes on and all of it is orchestrated by those in power making bad decisions in country after country – bad for the people, you understand, but good for those in government as they pull the reins of control tighter and tighter over us all.      That’s what it is all about, you know, create chaos, take…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

June 10, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This series on Apologetics is based on the book Catholicism & Reason. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. You can send them either to the postal mailing address or to the email address below, and we will interrupt this series to answer them. Special Course On Catholicism And Reason (Chapter 19) If we look at the world around us, we can observe three kinds of life: vegetative life (found in plants), sensitive life (found in animals), and intellectual or rational life (found in humans). Plant life is characterized by growth and nourishment through soil and air. A rock cannot do…Continue Reading

Thirty Years A Priest Of Jesus Christ

June 9, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Thirty Years A Priest Of Jesus Christ

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Some describe God as a writer, most often in self-deprecation. God is good, we know it is certain. He wills what is good, brings good about. But He must on this Earth, with human beings, always employ sinners in His plan. Thus the “straight” writing of His ever-perfect will, as it is often described, is accomplished always with “crooked lines.”His design appears visible only slowly through the fits and starts of time’s passage. He sees all, we also know; past, present, and future appearing simultaneously in what we describe as His omniscience. He sees what we will be and how what we are at any given moment will dovetail either well or poorly with what…Continue Reading

On The Power Of Liturgy And Prayer

June 8, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on On The Power Of Liturgy And Prayer

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this article on May 25. It is reprinted here with permission.) + + There is a text from the Acts of the Apostles that sets forth quite well some of the qualities of the Sacred Liturgy. Although the “liturgy” cited in this passage is not a Mass, the description should apply to all our liturgies; from the Liturgy of the Hours to Baptism, from a Penance service to a full sung Mass. Let’s look at the passage and learn from it the power of liturgy to deliver, instruct, and transform us and the world. What Must I Do To Be Saved? About midnight, while Paul and Silas were prayingand singing…Continue Reading

The Holy Spirit Delights In Us

June 6, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Holy Spirit Delights In Us

BY FR. ROBERT ALTIER Solemnity Of The Most Holy Trinity (YR C) Readings: Prov. 8:22-31Romans 5:1-5John 16:12-15 As we celebrate today the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the readings provide us with some beautiful and astounding teachings. I say this because, when we think of the Holy Trinity, we might look at this truth from a distance, keep it objective, and think it has little or nothing to do with us personally. This may follow from the fact that the Trinity is an absolute mystery, that is, something beyond our ability to fully comprehend in this life and in the life to come.When something is infinitely beyond us, it is easy to give up and assume that since we…Continue Reading