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December 24, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. I am attaching a prayer card that I recently discovered and wondered if you are familiar with it. — D.M., Virginia.A. Yes, we are familiar with the Christmas Anticipation Prayer and have said it daily each December for many years. Also known as the St. Andrew Christmas Prayer because it begins on the Feast of St. Andrew (November 30) and ends on December 24, the prayer is to be recited fifteen times a day (all at once or perhaps in three segments, say, at each meal), while asking God to grant us some favor in honor of His Son’s birth. The text of the prayer follows:“Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World . . . Friendship Born Of Providential Encounter

December 23, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World . . . Friendship Born Of Providential Encounter

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK It was a chance meeting that perhaps could change a life. I wandered nonchalantly into an antiques store on a beautiful December day, my first ever in Savannah. After a post-Mass early morning bike ride to get the general lay of the metropolis, I was back out on foot, walking north from Forsyth Park toward the riverfront by means of Bull Street. It was close to noon and after checking out of my Airbnb.One of the grand homes on one of the beautiful squares of the city shelters on its ground level a curiosity shop. Marked by the “antiques” sign, it is the kind of emporium filled with refined items that even before one enters…Continue Reading

Why Was Jesus Born When And Where He Was?

December 22, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Why Was Jesus Born When And Where He Was?

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Pope posted this commentary on December 13 and it is published here with permission. His website is msgrpope.com.) + + In preparation for the coming of Christmas, we have been discussing some of St. Thomas Aquinas’ writings. In this last installment we’ll be looking at his commentary on the time and place of Jesus’ birth.We live in a culture that tends toward a kind of temporal pride. We think that we have come of age, that we are smarter and wiser than our forebears. Scientific, technical, and medical knowledge are more highly developed to be sure, but there is more to life than what falls into those realms.The religious version of temporal pride…Continue Reading

God’s Expressions Of Love For Us

December 20, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on God’s Expressions Of Love For Us

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER The Nativity Of Our Lord (YR C) Readings: Isaiah 52:7-10Heb. 1:1-6John 1:1-18 We know from God’s Revelation of Himself that He is love. As human persons made in God’s image and likeness, we are made for love: to love, to be loved, to be transformed into love. As beautiful as this is, we have two problems due to original sin and our own sins. The first is that we do not always grasp what love is. The second is that we sometimes do not believe that God actually loves us (this may be because we do not believe ourselves to be lovable).Knowing our human plight, God chose to “prove” His love for us. He did this…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

December 17, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Q. I have heard it said that Jeremiah 10:1-5 forbids Christmas trees, and implicitly all Christmas decorations. Your comments, please. — G.P., via e-mail.A. Here is the passage in question:“Thus says the Lord: Learn not the customs of the nations, / and have no fear of the signs of the heavens, / though the nations fear them. / For the cult idols of the nations are nothing, / wood cut from the forest, / Wrought by craftsmen with the adze, / adorned with silver and gold, / With nails and hammers they are fastened, / that they may not totter. / Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, they cannot speak; / they must be carried about, /…Continue Reading

Faith Vaccinates Against Pandemic of Fear

December 16, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Faith Vaccinates Against Pandemic of Fear

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The occasion of a 50th jubilee wedding celebration was a cause for contemplating the courage of cooperation with God. Surrendering to His plan through openness to life, and raising eight children in the faith, would leave any person open to the possibility of fear. So many risks and unknowns. Yet today they are full of joy, a growing family still, enjoying the love that comes from openness to God’s plan which makes necessary the rejection of fear and selfishness.The expressions both public and private of our faith are more intense at this time of year than any other.Our weakness in the face of forces beyond our control can only be answered by surrender. Only one…Continue Reading

I Wanna Be Ready To Put On A Long White Robe

December 15, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on I Wanna Be Ready To Put On A Long White Robe

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Msgr. Charles Pope posted this Advent commentary on December 5. It is reprinted here with permission.) + + But who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth? This is the cry that goes up from the final pages of the Old Testament (Mal. 3:2). The Lord himself gives the answer:See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; lest I come and strike the land with doom! (Mal. 4:5-6).With these words the Old Testament ends.The New Testament opens in the…Continue Reading

He Will Stand Firm And Shepherd His Flock

December 13, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on He Will Stand Firm And Shepherd His Flock

BY FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fourth Sunday Of Advent (YR C) Readings: Micah 5:1-4aHebrews 10:5-10Luke 1:39-45 In the first reading today, we hear about Bethlehem and how, although it is too small to be counted among the clans of Judah, from that tiny village God is going to raise up a Ruler for Israel. We know, of course, to whom this refers, but we need to be clear that although King David also came from Bethlehem, this prophecy is not referring to him because it was written several hundred years after King David had died.As we make our final spiritual preparations for Christmas, this reading gives us several things to consider. First, God often chooses the least, the smallest, the weakest…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

December 10, 2021 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 7) For three years, Jesus had been preaching, teaching, and healing the sick throughout Galilee and Judea. While He was very popular with the people, the religious leaders — the Pharisees and the Scribes — were jealous of Him and plotted to get rid of Him. Their opportunity came unexpectedly…Continue Reading

God’s Order In The Court

December 9, 2021 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on God’s Order In The Court

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Satanic disorder tears at the human fabric of this nation, with deadly effect daily, in the assaults against and taking of lives.Recently a 15-year-old child in Michigan violently murdered fellow students in yet another school shooting. How do we stop violence outside the womb when we are not willing to hold back the weapons of death under the guise of legal murder in abortion against the most defenseless and most innocent inside the womb? How can we teach our young to cherish, guard, and tenderly care for human life when we refuse to defend those most vulnerable among us?We cannot. We cannot begin to turn the tide of violence and bloodshed in this land until…Continue Reading