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Catholic Replies

December 18, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: In a soon-to-be-published biography, Pope Benedict XVI was asked about a phrase he uttered in his first homily as Pope in 2005. He had asked at that time that the faithful “Pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves.” Did this mean, Peter Seewald asked, that the Holy Father had foreseen what was coming? The Pontiff replied:“The true threat for the Church, and thus for the Petrine service, does not come from this sort of episode — it comes instead from the universal dictatorship of apparently humanistic ideologies. Anyone who contradicts this dictatorship is excluded from the basic consensus of society. One hundred years ago, anyone would have thought it absurd to speak…Continue Reading

Cardinal Zen . . . Jimmy Lai Arrest Is Part Of Campaign Of “Political Intimidation”

December 17, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Cardinal Zen . . . Jimmy Lai Arrest Is Part Of Campaign Of “Political Intimidation”

By ED CONDON WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNA) — Joseph Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun has warned that the recent arrest of Jimmy Lai shows a rise in “political intimidation” against journalists in Hong Kong, part of a systematic erosion of basic freedoms, including religious freedom, by the Chinese government in recent months.In an interview with Catholic News Agency, the emeritus bishop of Hong Kong said that the arrest of Jimmy Lai, a Catholic, pro-democracy advocate, and the founder of the Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, was just the most recent example of Communist authorities attempting to stifle a free press.Lai was charged December 2 with breaching the terms of a lease by his company Next Digital Media. Lai has previously been arrested and…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World . . . God Is Not “Contactless”

December 16, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World . . . God Is Not “Contactless”

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Many small businesses have closed as a result of extensive lockdowns. The situation for those who remain is desperate. Ingenuity has resulted in a host of new business practices as a result, many of which will probably carry over to a time in the future when things may return to what we recall as normal.Now vendors fighting for their survival during the ongoing pandemic boast of “contactless” service. COVID is passed through various kinds of contact so, it makes sense, zero contact means zero chance of catching it.That might be fine for protecting life and health while buying and selling. Humans, however, still need “contact” with one another for spiritually healthy and fulfilling lives. Life…Continue Reading

The One True God

December 14, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The One True God

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fourth Sunday Of Advent (YR B) Readings:2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16Romans 16:25-27Luke 1:26-38 In the second reading today, St. Paul proclaims glory forever to the only wise God through Jesus Christ. The glory St. Paul gives to God is according to His Gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ made known to the nations to bring about the obedience of faith. This is something most of us simply take for granted, but as we draw near to Christmas, we need to ask exactly what St. Paul is proclaiming.First of all, St. Paul tells us there is only one God. These are the first words we profess every time we pray the Creed. However, we live…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

December 11, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: Writing in his parish bulletin on the Feast of Christ the King, Fr. George Rutler of the Church of St. Michael in New York City said that “these days I am frequently asked if we are living in the ‘End Times.’ As the grace of Holy Orders does not make me a seer, I defer, as is prudent, to the King of the Universe: ‘Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming’ (Matt. 24:42). So the answer simply is that we do not know, but as the Coast Guard’s Semper Paratus motto exhorts, we must constantly be prepared.”He said that “the Church began with a crucifixion when no one expected a resurrection. That…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… COVID “Delusional Psychosis” Undermines Faith

December 10, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on A Leaven In The World… COVID “Delusional Psychosis” Undermines Faith

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The reactions to COVID-19 affect our lives perhaps more than any other factor today, including faith. The facts about COVID have helped us. The false and misleading information has had devastating results for human life.And eternal life.Mark Tapscott wrote an article in the Epoch Times entitled, “Americans are Suffering ‘Delusional Psychosis’ About CCP Virus, Psychiatrist Claims”:“So much misinformation and exaggeration about the lethality of the CCP virus — also known as the novel coronavirus — has been broadcast by government officials and the media that many Americans are suffering from a ‘delusional psychosis,’ according to Los Angeles child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Mark McDonald.”McDonald describes the psychosis as a condition in which the person becomes…Continue Reading

God Is Doing Something Great

December 9, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on God Is Doing Something Great

BY FR. ROBERT ALTIER Third Sunday Of Advent (YR B) Readings: Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-111 Thess. 5:16-24John 1:6-8, 19-28 In the Gospel reading today, St. John the Baptist is asked who he is. He said he was not the Christ, Elijah, or the Prophet. Instead, he told the people he was “the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord’.” You may recognize this from last week’s first reading which was taken from the beginning of the fortieth chapter of Isaiah. I think, given what we have mentioned above, it is important to look the person of St. John the Baptist.First, St. John the Baptist acknowledges that he is not the Christ. He knows…Continue Reading

The Frog In Boiling Water

December 7, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on The Frog In Boiling Water

By FR. JAMES ALTMAN Most people are familiar with the word: Mara-NA-tha. It is a Hebrew word. I never have heard it pronounced any other way. But, as it turns out, where we stress a syllable changes the meaning of that Hebrew word. If we pronounce the word with emphasis on the second syllable — Ma-RA-natha — it means “Come, Lord Jesus,” which is how we should be praying it during this sacred season of Advent. If we pronounce the word with emphasis on the third syllable — Mara-NA-tha — it means Lord Jesus already has come, which is how we should pray it on or after Christmas.How fitting and proper it is to meditate on the meaning of this…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

December 4, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: Are you interested in finding a Christmas gift for someone who has everything, except a knowledge of the Catholic faith? Why not give this person one or more of our books? The books available are Catholic Replies and Catholic Replies 2, All Generations Will Call Me Blessed, Who Do You Say That I Am?, Catholicism & Reason (Apologetics), Catholicism & Scripture (Salvation History), Catholicism & Society (Marriage and Family), Catholicism & Ethics (Medical/Moral Issues), and Catholicism & Life (Commandments and Sacraments). They range in price from $10.95 to $17.95, but may be purchased at a special Christmas discount of $5 each, plus $10 shipping for up to five books and $15 for more than five books. All orders…Continue Reading

Pope John Paul II Advent 1997… “Watch At All Times”

December 3, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off on Pope John Paul II Advent 1997… “Watch At All Times”

(Editor’s Note: The following homily from Pope John Paul II for the first Sunday of Advent, November 30, 1997, focused on preparing to meet the Savior. John Paul also emphasized the then upcoming Jubilee of the Year 2000, and he welcomed members of Rome’s City Mission who were present.(The homily is published on www.vatican.va; all rights reserved.) + + “But watch at all times, praying that you may have the strength…to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).Christ’s words, taken from Luke’s Gospel, introduce us to the profound meaning of the liturgy we are celebrating. On this First Sunday in Advent, which marks the beginning of the second year of immediate preparation for the Jubilee of the Year 2000,…Continue Reading