Home » Our Catholic Faith » Recent Articles:

Heaven, The Promised Land

March 19, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Third Sunday Of Lent (YR C) Readings: Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15 1 Cor. 10:1-6, 10-12 Luke 13:1-9 In the readings today we hear about both the justice and the mercy of God. The first reading is all about God’s mercy. The people of Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for 430 years, but in that time they had grown from 70 people to 600,000. By nature they would not have wanted to leave, even though they had been promised a land of their own. They knew the culture, they knew the language, and they knew the people. Even if God had come to them in some extraordinary way, the people would not have wanted to leave. For…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World . . . Cardinal Pell: The Pendulum Swings

March 18, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The pendulum means nothing on its own and functions only by means of a power external to itself: the law of gravity. The swing of the pendulum is a symbol of the lack of balance, for the forces at work upon it which keep it in constant motion prevent its rest in a central position between two extremes. “A pendulum works by converting energy back and forth, a bit like a rollercoaster ride. When the bob is highest (furthest from the ground), it has maximum stored energy (potential energy). As it accelerates down toward its lowest point (its midpoint, nearest the ground), this potential energy is converted into kinetic energy (energy of movement) and then, as the bob climbs up again,…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

March 15, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

Editor’s Note: In his weekly bulletin at the Church of St. Michael in New York City, Fr. George Rutler, after noting that John Henry Cardinal Newman of England will soon be proclaimed a saint and Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary will be declared venerable, said that “Mindszenty was not Newman’s intellectual peer, but his life was the most muscular testimony to doctrine. He was imprisoned and tortured by Nazis and Communists, by a logic easily understood once it is acknowledged that both Nazism and Communism are forms of atheistic socialism, vaunting the power of the collective state over individual dignity. “In our times, these malignant social theories are being propounded by culturally illiterate politicians whose eccentricity still has a centric…Continue Reading

The Church In The Midst Of The Storm . . . “Come To Me All Who Are Weary”

March 13, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

By FR. SHENAN J. BOQUET (Editor’s Note: This article is reprinted with permission of Human Life International, www.hli.org. It first appeared at www.hli.org on March 4, 2019. Fr. Boquet is the president of HLI.) + + + “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me” (John 14:1). Holy Mother Church is in the midst of a dark night. Scarcely a day goes by where I do not read a news article about the Church and her ministers that makes me feel physically ill. I will not recite this information here. If you are paying any attention to the news, you know what I’m talking about. I confess that at times I feel frustrated,…Continue Reading

Our Citizenship Is In Heaven

March 12, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Second Sunday Of Lent (YR C) Readings: Gen. 15:5-12, 17-18 Phil. 3:17-4:1 Luke 9:28b-36 In the first reading God establishes a covenant with Abram and makes the promise by which the “Promised Land” is known: “To your descendants I give this land. . . .” A religious covenant is an agreement between God and His people. There are promises and stipulations that accompany a covenant but, in essence, God always makes the same promise: I will be your God, you will be my people, and I will provide everything you need and bring you into the land of promise. Every covenant also has three characteristics: permanence, fidelity, and life. The covenant with Abram states that he…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… “In The Closet Of The Vatican”: Lost Distinctions

March 11, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Worldly folks don’t get it: Sinners in the Church, who are indeed practicing their faith, must teach what is right no matter their personal sins or weakness. Frederic Martel’s salacious new book, In the Closet of the Vatican, is just another example of a mundane spirit so easily manipulated by the evil one, another in a long line of such accounts of the sins of the Church’s members. And just like all those other books, it does not address, or affect, the billions of Catholic Christians who humbly and obediently live their faith each day, including Confession. In the Closet of the Vatican promises scandals galore and doesn’t disappoint. It would be significant if those…Continue Reading

Catholic Replies

March 8, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

Q. My husband has dementia and I am his caretaker. We are both in our late eighties. Are we required to fast from food for one hour before receiving Communion? — H.W., Minnesota. A. The answer is no if health considerations prevent you from observing the one-hour fast. Q. I have heard people say that the pro-abortion side treats abortion like a sacrament. Why would they use such a holy word to describe such an evil action? – J.J., via e-mail. A. We have also cringed to hear this comparison. It doesn’t accord at all with the traditional Catholic definition of a sacrament, i.e., an outward sign instituted by Christ to give us grace. Or even with the secular definition…Continue Reading

Reverence In The Sacred Liturgy: A Matter Of Love

March 6, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

By JAMES MONTI To have a sense of the sacred is to have a vivid and formative awareness of who God is, of His infinite goodness, His omnipotence, His holiness, and His transcendence, as well as a perception of the sacredness of man created in His likeness and image. Reverence is our response to the sacred. And it is a response of love. In keeping with the sublime mystery that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, that our God became incarnate, reverence has been “incarnated” in sacred words and actions, the words and actions of the sacred liturgy, words and actions that have developed and ripened across a wide span of centuries. And having been placed by God…Continue Reading

For Lent Make Love Your Motive

March 5, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER First Sunday Of Lent (YR C) Readings: Deut. 26:4-10 Romans 10:8-13 Luke 4:1-13 Having embarked on the discipline of Lent, the Church puts before us several points of counsel to guide us during this time of grace. Most often when we begin something new, we are very zealous and, therefore, able to carry through with our resolution for a period of time, relying on either emotional energy or stubborn determination. If it is the latter, we may persevere a bit longer, but either way, we will most likely falter and slip back into our familiar way of life. Let’s you have chosen something for Lent that will make a real difference in your life. Giving up…Continue Reading

A Leaven In The World… The Innocent Are Convicted And The Guilty Go Free?

March 4, 2019 Our Catholic Faith Comments Off

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK Two very significant events happened last week for the life of the Church and both are connected by the shattering crisis of the sexual abuse of minors. There are deeper roots that underlie these phenomena, whether admitted or denied, but the two events are the conviction of George Cardinal Pell on charges of sexual abuse of minors and the meeting of the heads of the world’s conferences of bishops with Pope Francis at the Vatican for three days of discussions on the matter. By the way, it was announced immediately after the sexual abuse summit that next October the Holy Father is going to meet for three weeks with the Synod on the Amazon, while…Continue Reading

Home » Our Catholic Faith » Recent Articles:

The Wanderer Printing Company Copyright 2020 Continental Data Services (2020) - All Rights Reserved