Friday 1st December 2023

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Catholic Replies

August 18, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This lesson on medical-moral issues is taken from the book Catholicism & Ethics. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. Special Course On Catholicism And Ethics (Pages 27-37) While there are three elements involved in determining the morality of a human action — the act itself, the purpose of the act, and the circumstances surrounding the act — knowledge and free will play a part in deciding the moral guilt of the person. Murder or theft or abortion or lying are objectively bad actions, but the subjective guilt of the person committing the act can be mitigated or even removed entirely…Continue Reading

The Wheels Are Coming Off

August 17, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Wheels Are Coming Off

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Prophets are a pain. They bother us incessantly with the same somber warnings of doom. We don’t like prophets because we fear they will take away all the fun and pleasure of life.If you think that sin is fun, you would be right. But, because what we see is not all there is, because time flies and eternity await, because the way of all flesh is death and corruption, this world and the flesh must be submitted to other and higher, eternal considerations.The role of the prophet is to stand before others who have forgotten they are more than flesh and bone, more than appetites and wants, and to confront them with their own deeds…Continue Reading

On The Feast Of The Transfiguration: A Meditation On Seeing

August 16, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on On The Feast Of The Transfiguration: A Meditation On Seeing

(Editor’s Note: Msgr. Pope posted this commentary on August 5 and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + The Feast of the Transfiguration is ultimately about vision. The Lord brought Peter, James, and John up a high mountain in order that they might come to see. Even the word that describes this day bespeaks vision. It is from the Latin Transfiguratione. Trans means “across” and by extension “change” and figura means “shape” or “form.” The suffix “ation” takes a verbal action and makes it a noun. Putting it all together transfiguration means a process by which Christ changed form or appearance. Christ gave them a glimpse of His true glory, He allowed them to see across (trans) to the…Continue Reading

Beacon of Light . . . The Parable Of The Net

August 15, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Beacon of Light . . . The Parable Of The Net

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON JR. Over the last few weeks, we have heard several of the parables Jesus spoke during the course of His ministry. Each of the parables offer examples from daily living that help us to understand the importance the Kingdom of God plays in our lives. Sometimes just a simple example help to broaden our knowledge of God’s kingdom. Things like water, wheat, and a well, all have uses in ordinary life; they do, however, also have symbolism in the spiritual life. Water is cleansing and is used in Baptism. Wheat is used to make unleavened bread, that becomes the Body of Christ. And a well, is the source of flowing water for the community and…Continue Reading

God’s Ways Are Inscrutable And Unsearchable

August 14, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on God’s Ways Are Inscrutable And Unsearchable

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-First Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 22:19-23Romans11:33-36Matt. 16:13-20 In the second reading today, St. Paul marvels at the riches, wisdom, and knowledge of God and proclaims that His judgments are inscrutable, and His ways are unsearchable. We recall that God Himself stated that His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. This becomes very important for us in the context of St. Paul’s glorying in the ways of the Lord.I say it is important because we tend to think our ways are the best and our thoughts are correct. Sometimes we even seem to think we know better than God! Of course, we will be quick to deny…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

August 11, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: Bill Donohue of the Catholic League has done a great job of providing perspective on the clergy sex abuse scandal in his book The Truth about Clergy Sexual Abuse: Clarifying the Facts and the Causes. In an update dated July 23, he said that the scandal in the Catholic Church “has long been over and now it is practically nonexistent. To be sure, there continues to be a tiny fraction of the clergy who are offenders, but it has long since been of the magnitude of a scandal. But don’t look to the media to tell you this.”Referring to the 2022 Annual Report on the Implementation of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” Donohue…Continue Reading

We Must Resist The Falsehoods Of The October Synod

August 10, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on We Must Resist The Falsehoods Of The October Synod

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Fantasies such as women “priests” or “deacons,” the possibility of marriage between two men or two women, being born in the “wrong” body and other chimeras obsess and entertain the left, as well as the poorly instructed who cannot think for themselves. The successive synods in the Church under Francis serve as Trojan horses to worm these make-believe stories into parishes on the pretext that they are matters of “doctrine” pertaining to the faith.These fantasies have been resurfacing since the social upheaval of the 1960s, which seeped into the Church in the post-conciliar era. Another fantasy and distraction that enabled their spread is the notion that we are here to change the Church, rather than…Continue Reading

On The Sad End Of Solomon

August 9, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on On The Sad End Of Solomon

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Pope posted this essay on August 1 and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + The first reading at Mass this past week (17th Sunday cycle A) focused on the kingship of Solomon. Perhaps the high point of his life when he was given the opportunity to ask anything whatsoever from God and chose not gold or glory but wisdom. On Wednesday we read about the visit of the Queen of Sheba, complete with a description of Solomon’s court and kingdom in all its glory.His early years presented a portrait of a man deeply rooted in God, but later in his life Solomon’s infidelity led to a divided kingdom. It is a…Continue Reading

A Beacon of Light . . . Remind Yourself Of The Ten Commandments

August 8, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Beacon of Light . . . Remind Yourself Of The Ten Commandments

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON, Jr. Every so often we all need to be reminded of important fundamental aspects of our faith. It is easy for us to get distracted by the daily circumstances of life, and these important fundamentals of faith seem to take a backseat in our lives. One example is the Ten Commandments. How frequently do we remind ourselves of these laws of God? God gave them to us, so that we might remain focused on the path that leads heavenward. The reality of the times in which we live, have shown us that many disregard these fundamental Commandments.Recently, the Mass readings for Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time presented us with the Exodus account…Continue Reading

Jesus Is Our Covenant

August 7, 2023 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Jesus Is Our Covenant

BY FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twentieth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7Romans 11:13-15, 29-23Matt. 15:21-28 In the second reading today, St. Paul says something astounding regarding the salvation of the world. We recall our Lord’s statement to the woman at the well when He said, “Salvation is from the Jews.” In the Gospel reading today, Jesus tells this Canaanite woman that He was sent only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So, the Jewish people, being the chosen people, were given the means of salvation first but, as St. Paul points out, they rejected that salvation.This rejection by the Jewish people opened the door to the salvation of the rest of the world. The…Continue Reading