Friday 20th May 2022

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Our Church Easter “Reno” Reveal

April 14, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Our Church Easter “Reno” Reveal

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Just as with great anticipation the Church in Lent awaits the new life of the Lord’s Resurrection, so our little church in Benedict, Md., awaits at the same time the great unveiling of the final details of our extensive years-long renovation — “reno” — and redesign project.Renovation of course means “to make new again.” What will be revealed — beginning on Palm Sunday with the hanging of our lamps and chandeliers and then fully exposed at Easter with the lowering of a great canvas and scaffold to reveal a monumental apse mural — is new in one aspect. The work, materials, persons, and energies involved may be new, but the inspiration is old.Classic church decoration…Continue Reading

Counting The Cost Of Condemnation

April 13, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Counting The Cost Of Condemnation

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this column on April 2 and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + The Mass for Sunday, April 2 features the well-known Gospel of the woman caught in adultery. In it, the Lord intimates to the men of His day that the severe punishment they want to mete out to this woman may be unwise given that they themselves must prepare for their own judgment.Before we examine the details, let’s consider a few background texts that may help us to better understand what Jesus is teaching. After each verse, I provide a brief commentary.“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matt. 5:7). Notice that it is…Continue Reading

He Is The Son Of The Living God

April 11, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on He Is The Son Of The Living God

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Easter Sunday (YR C) Readings: Acts 10:34a, 37-43Col. 3:1-4John 20:1-9 In the Gospel reading today, St. John makes a humble confession of his own ignorance regarding the Resurrection. He tells us first that when he went into the tomb, he saw and believed. This is followed by the statement that “they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” This lack of understanding makes perfect sense because no one had risen from the dead previously. It also makes sense because most Jewish people were not expecting a Messiah who would suffer and die. For this reason, there was no need to even attempt to understand what rising from the dead…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

April 8, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. My husband of sixty years was called to the Lord six months ago, and a friend told me about Gregorian Masses that can be said by priests in Canada and Spain for thirty days for the souls in Purgatory, but they cost several hundred dollars. Do you have any information about whom to contact in the United States for this purpose? — S.G., New York.A. First of all, our prayers and condolences for your loss. Gregorian Masses go back to Pope St. Gregory the Great (590-604), who obtained the release from Purgatory of the soul of a deceased monk after offering Masses for him for thirty days. There are organizations and religious orders in this country that will offer…Continue Reading

Heretical Bishops Must Not Be Obeyed

April 7, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Heretical Bishops Must Not Be Obeyed

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK When Christ tells us He is “the Way, the Truth and the Life,” He is telling us that He only is all Truth and all Truth is only in Him. Lies are the opposite of the Truth. Christ cannot be opposed to Himself. He cannot be in lies or in liars.The truth, which is Christ, is something that we do as well as believe. Thus, the Commandments and the moral doctrine of the Church.“If you love me, you will keep my Commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him…Continue Reading

On His Way To The Cross . . . Jesus’ Lament On The Culture Of Death

April 6, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on On His Way To The Cross . . . Jesus’ Lament On The Culture Of Death

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this article on March 29 and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + Eighth Station: In the Stations of the Cross Jesus says a rather extraordinary thing. He addresses it to the women who have gathered to lament Him:“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’ At that time people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall upon us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ for if these things are done when the wood is green what…Continue Reading

Examples Of Excellence

April 4, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Examples Of Excellence

By F. ROBERT ALTIER Palm Sunday (YR C) Readings: Luke 19:28-40Isaiah 50:4-7Phil. 2:6-11Luke 22:14-23:56 Palm Sunday is always wonderful for displaying human nature both in its excellence and in its brokenness. The brokenness is shown clearly and in so many ways. For instance, we have the crowds who on Sunday are singing and praising the Lord as He enters Jerusalem; on Friday they are shouting for His crucifixion. We see it in the religious leaders who believed it was expedient to get rid of the Lord because He was inconvenient to them and their plans.Most of us like to keep things steady and we do not like it when someone rocks our boat. Jesus was calling for conversion, a complete…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

April 1, 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 14) A serious problem today is the lack of unity among Christians. The restoration of such unity is the reason that the Second Vatican Council was convened in Rome in 1962. “Ecumenism” is the word that is used to describe efforts to bring about Christian unity. Before discussing the exact…Continue Reading

“The Stupidity Of The Pharisees”

March 31, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on “The Stupidity Of The Pharisees”

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK On March 25, many participated worldwide in a consecration requested by the bishops of Ukraine according to our Lady’s request at Fatima. But, as we saw, the prayer equivocated. Russia and Ukraine were mentioned, but so was “all of humanity.”“All of humanity” and “especially Russia and Ukraine.” Did we consecrate Russia according to Heaven’s command? Why the insertion of the phrase “all of humanity”? What is the agenda? The individual soul lost in a formless and vague generalization?Yes, it is right and good to consecrate “all of humanity.” But that can be done at any time. The purpose of the exercise, consecrating Russia, is lost in a sea of generalization, however, when added as an…Continue Reading

Is Your Spiritual Life Like A Sailboat Or A Motorboat?

March 30, 2022 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Is Your Spiritual Life Like A Sailboat Or A Motorboat?

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this column on March 22 and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + When I was about 10 years old I took some sailing lessons and then did so again when I was in my early 30s. Sailing involves a kind of romancing of the wind, wherein one observes it and then adapts to it, wooing it, learning its moves, its vicissitudes, its often subtle and changing signs.Oh, for the great times when the wind was with us! Catching the wind, the boat would speed along making a slick sound in the water. Oh, too, for those daring and thrilling times when the spinnaker was put out. The boat…Continue Reading