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The Stations Of The Cross… Follow The Final Earthly Journey Of Christ

March 30, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

By FR. EDWARD McNAMARA (Editor’s Note: Following is a question on whether or not stations of the cross are liturgical or not, answered by Legionary of Christ Fr. Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university. (Fr. McNamara writes the “Liturgy Q-and-A” column for ZENIT News Agency, which provided this text in 2016. All rights reserved.) + + + Q. Are the stations of the cross liturgical, and who qualifies as the minister? — B.A., Enugu State, Nigeria. A. The stations of the cross are not liturgical as such but fall under the heading of pious exercises. The Holy See’s 2001 Directory for Popular Piety gives the following definition of these exercises: “7. The…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

March 27, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

Editor’s Note: Fr. George Rutler hit the nail on the head once again in his weekly column at the Church of St. Michael in New York City: Materialism, fantasy, and false worship were the temptations Satan thrust at Christ, and he is tempting our nation the same way. These seductions are a formula for Socialism, which Winston Churchill in 1948 defined as “the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.” A poorly educated generation succumbs to adolescent idealism, bereft of history, unaware that a cult of the state has been a consistent failure, costing countless millions of lives in modern times. State worship was resisted by the earliest Christians, who refused to offer incense…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… Grace In The Time Of Coronavirus

March 26, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The coronavirus began late last year in China and has now reached our own shores. This after devastating Europe. In Italy now a number of priests and religious as well as hundreds of other elderly have succumbed. All public Masses in many dioceses have been canceled in the wake of public advisories to avoid all unnecessary social contact, perhaps for at least another month. Rome has already announced that Holy Week and Easter services will be livestreamed and the public will not be admitted. Increasing numbers of priests are now livestreaming their daily private Masses. My parish had not explored the possibility previously but we are now doing so, having found it is easy with…Continue Reading

Love God With Your Whole Heart

March 24, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fifth Sunday Of Lent (YR A) Readings: Ezek. 37:12-14 Romans 8:8-11 John 11:1-45 In the second reading St. Paul makes the distinction between those who are in the flesh and those who are in the Spirit. By this he is not speaking of those who are alive in the body as opposed to those who are in Purgatory or in Heaven. Rather, the distinction is between those whose focus is on the things of the flesh (worldliness, materialism, sensuality, and son on) and are, thereby, giving themselves over to occasions of sin as contrasted with those who are striving to live a deeper spiritual life and have sought to remove sin from their lives. St. Paul…Continue Reading

God Goes With Us In This Time Of Testing

March 23, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

(Editor’s Note: Below we reprint a “Prayer Against Contagious Diseases,” written by Pope St. Zachary, followed by several statements on the coronavirus crisis by leading U.S. bishops.) + + + Prayer Against Contagious Diseases O Cross of Christ, save me. May zeal for your house free me. The Cross conquers; the Cross reigns; the Cross rules; by the sign of the Cross free me, O Lord, from this plague. God, my God, drive this plague away from me, and from this place, and free me. In your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit, my heart, and my body. Before heaven and earth God was; and God is able to liberate me from this plague. The Cross of Christ will…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

March 20, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

Q. In today’s Gospel (Matt. 6:7-15), the text specifically has Jesus stating, “If you forgive men their transgressions…but if you do not forgive men….” The priest at Mass changed “men” to “people” in the first instance and to “them” in the second. I am not sure if this was an intentional effort to conform to the modern concepts of gender neutrality, which I would find especially distasteful as an act of retooling the words of Christ, or if I am simply unaware of various translations that may alter syntax. Can you help? — R.B., Wisconsin. A. The official Gospel reading for that day says “men” in both instances, and the priest should have used the approved translation, regardless of his…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World . . . Fear Is The Most Deadly Disease

March 18, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK In these early days of spring, when so many promising portents of new life begin to make their beguiling appearance around us, many are, in an ironic tragedy, in danger of death or have died as a result of the Coronavirus contagion. The return of new life in spring is for us a reminder of the eternal life bestowed by the Resurrection of the Lord, for which we prepare in these days of Lent by means of prayer and self-denial. We mourn and pray for the repose of their souls and the consolation of their families by means of the true faith. I received a most unusual phone call last week. A woman called asking…Continue Reading

Children Of Light

March 17, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Fourth Sunday Of Lent (YR A) Readings: 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a Eph. 5:8-14 John 9:1-41 The readings today are all about spiritual blindness. In the first reading we hear about Samuel, the great prophet of the Lord, who was easily misled by his own failure to look at the spiritual. When Jesse presented Eliab, his firstborn son who was tall, strong, and handsome, Samuel assumed, based on his appearance, that this was the one God had chosen to be the king of Israel. Instead, God chose Jesse’s youngest son who was thought to be so insignificant that he was not even invited to the sacrifice. Samuel knew when he went to Bethlehem that he was…Continue Reading

The Fourteen Holy Helpers… Plague Saints For A Time Of Coronavirus

March 16, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

By MARY FARROW (Wanderer Editor’s Note: This March 11 Catholic News Agency feature is somewhat different from what we usually run on our “Shepherds” page. We note, however, that Pope Nicholas V [born in 1397 and died in 1455] approved the Mass of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, and that some of the Holy Helpers were members of the clergy, making the article appropriate for this space.) + + + DENVER (CNA) — By this time in the coronavirus outbreak, you may have cruised the empty toilet paper aisles and pasta shelves at your local grocery store, and could have had moments of panic, or at least heightened anxiety. With 13 U.S. states having declared a state of emergency over COVID-19,…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

March 13, 2020 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

Editor’s Note: We are in the process of reducing our supply of books and are offering them to interested readers at a substantial discount. The books available, all in mint condition, are Catholic Replies, Catholic Replies 2, All Generations Will Call Me Blessed, Who Do You Say That I Am, Catholicism & Reason (Apologetics), Catholicism & Scripture (Salvation History), and Catholicism & Life (Commandments and Sacraments). The books retail from $11.95 to $17.95 but can be had for 50 percent off for 1 to 25 books, 60 percent off for 26 to 50 books, and 70 percent off for over 50 books. You can learn more about each of these books by visiting www.crpublications.com. Don’t order from the website, however,…Continue Reading

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