Commentary
Pope St. Stephen and the Sacraments
After the controversies in the mid-third century, in the aftermath of the persecution of the emperor Decius and the schism of Novatian, Pope St. Stephen was instrumental in clarifying the Church’s theology of the sacraments of Baptism and Penance and Reconciliation.
My truth? The real Personal truth is neither mine nor yours
If the first mark of our human freedom is indeed that we are capable of seeking the truth, then the chief result of our proper exercise of that freedom is not only the conformity of our minds to reality (the human definition of “truth”), but also a direct participation in the life of our loving Father, to whom we come through Christ, who is not only the truth, but the way and the life (Jn 14:6)
Harris campaign rhetoric in the Vatican newspaper
What makes his analysis remarkable is not his obvious sympathy for the Harris campaign, but the reasoning that leads him to the conclusion that a Trump victory would cause “an unprecedented twisting of democracy.”
Jesus Does Not Follow the Science
The social sciences also reveal -- with absolute certainty -- that the abuse of human sexuality and the breakdown of the family leads to poverty, despair, single mothers, abortion, perversions, disease, gangland violence, and a host of other disorders.
Highlights: making the Church less worldly, a Catholic movie from 1903, music and conversion
A collection of highlight clips from past episodes.
The Israel-Gaza War: Evangelical vs. Catholic reactions
I am aware of no distinctly Catholic theological reason for supporting Israel. In fact, the distinctly Catholic commentaries that I have seen on the Israel—Gaza War tend to run the other way. Nevertheless, I’m with Israel. Not “to the hilt, no questions asked, end of story.” But at the end of the day, yes, with Israel and against her enemies. Here’s why.
An extraordinary statement from the world’s Orthodox leaders
"Our Churches categorically reject the justification of same-sex relations ...."
St. Francis of Assisi—Setting the Record Straight
Who is St Francis? A saint who radically followed the heart of the Gospel.
Three blockbuster books on our contemporary gender crisis
When the Pontifical Academy for Life muddied the waters of human sexuality still further in 2022 by casting doubt on the veracity of Catholic teaching on contraception, a group of distinguished Catholic scholars participated in a conference in Rome designed to offer a response to the PAL. Out of this conference grew three major works on the severe problems occasioned by our contemporary confusion about human sexuality and gender identity.
Vance’s incoherence on abortion
If it is barbaric to watch a living baby die after a botched abortion, why isn’t it barbaric a few minutes earlier, when the abortionist tries to kill the baby in the womb?
St. John Henry Newman—Three Poems on the Angels
"My oldest friend, mine from the hour / When first I drew my breath; My faithful friend, that shall be mine, / Unfailing, till my death..."
Francis, false hopes, and the Church’s Divine Constitution
It defies the imagination how dense so many Catholic leaders can be about what constitutes authentic Catholic renewal. People always seem to want to tinker with structures, rules, sacraments, liturgy or patterns of consultation when the fundamental call to renewal has always been exactly the same as when Our Lord proclaimed it at the beginning of his public ministry: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.”
Priests in Hell
Even the many good deeds of the priest will torment him in hell by reminding him of his heavenly eternity had he remained faithful.
Why did the Vatican punish a Catholic journalist?
And what, exactly is abuse of the journalistic apostolate?
Abortion is about sex. Duh.
Pro-lifers were telling the truth when they compared the plight of the unborn child to that of the slave in the antebellum South or the Jew in the Holocaust. What they missed, though, is that American slavery and the Nazi Holocaust have nothing to do with sex. Abortion has everything to do with sex. Particularly nonmarital sex.
St. John Henry Newman—The Self-Wise Inquirer
"In proportion as we lean to our own understanding, we are driven to do so for want of a better guide. Our first true guide, the light of innocence, is gradually withdrawn from us; and nothing is left for us but to 'grope and stumble in the desolate places,' by the dim, uncertain light of reason."
The Pope’s politically-incorrect message to East Timor: keep having babies
East Timor lies at one end of that population-growth zone, where the proponents of what the Pope terms “cultural imperialism” have not yet fully convinced the natives to stop reproducing. And even Pope Francis, who has shown so little sympathy for large families, recognized there that the presence of so many babies and toddlers is one strong indication of a healthy culture.
Do Catholic women now have a valid reason to support Harris?
Catholic women prefer Harris. Since we are considering polling data that comes from those who attend Mass weekly, and who believe everything the Church teaches, and who grasp Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, we may in this instance see an opportunity for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to focus its energies on the blunt moral demands of the natural law, and on the overwhelming priority to minimize the absolute moral evils protected and even imposed by law.
Father Caius and the Tomb of St. Peter
Caius was a priest in Rome, in the third century. He wrote that if one comes to Rome, one can visit the shrines at the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul. These tombs had been known and visited since the apostle’s deaths, and are known to this day - they are in the same place where Caius knew them. The tomb of St. Peter is directly under the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City.
On contraception, an unfaithful Vatican consultor
The decision to remain open to life in marital relations builds the appropriate space for sacrifice and spiritual maturation which is communicated throughout the family and formed in the next generation. Indeed, couples who commit themselves to living their love vocationally, in a lifelong union defined by the very will of God, have significantly higher success rates in marriage, find a deep and genuine joy in a generous family life, and—incidentally—provide the kind of future citizens that are so badly needed to reshape a wholesome and spiritually productive society.
Why Kamala Harris is skipping the Al Smith dinner
Her most avid supporters would be disappointed if Harris failed to confront the cardinal; yet she would offend against civility, and lose the sympathy of many Catholic Democrats, if she did. She couldn’t win.
Ambition
As his disciples jockey for position, Jesus redirects their ambitions… Human dignity in Jesus is the basis of Christianity, and service in sacrificial love is its ambition.
The Chosen, Season 4: Lectio Divina or Fan Fiction?
At its best, The Chosen has shed new light on moments from the Gospel by noticing small details of Scripture and fleshing them out. Invented backstories for the Apostles served to support and color the Biblical account. But in season four, the writers seem to be caught up in their own story ideas, so that even the Gospel eventsare overshadowed by wholesale invention.
Faith in a time of socio-political disintegration
Let’s step back a little: What is the essence of our Catholic identity? It is, of course, what we call “the Faith”. But what is faith? As articulated in the New Testament, and most thoroughly in the letters of St. Paul, faith is not mere belief in a set of propositions. Instead, it is centered on the Person of Jesus Christ, and the word “faith” means belief in His teachings; trust in His promises; and obedience to His commands.
Sinning against the witness of the martyrs
To a secularized society the message seemed clear: your physical health is more important than your spiritual welfare. That message was— and is— more deadly than the disease.
184—Ghosts of memory, myths, and contemporary Catholic poets w/ Ryan Wilson
Catholic poet Ryan Wilson rejoins the podcast to read poems from his latest collection, In Ghostlight, which deals with themes of memory in a "haunted" world, encounters with realities beyond us, and reinterpreting ancient myths (Orpheus as a hair metal singer!). He also introduces four Catholic poets from his new anthology co-edited with April Lindner, Contemporary Catholic Poets.
Catholics, Freemasons, and the GOP
Masonic membership in the GOP doesn’t break down along ideological lines: there are conservative pro-lifers and socially liberal Republicans. Some of them are Catholic and in denial about the incompatibility of Masonry with the Faith. The Democratic Party is less of a home for Catholics than ever, but I can't help but wonder: Are there questions about the Catholic/Republican alliance that even its critics never thought to ask?
Pope St. Paul VI—Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life)
"But to experience the gift of married love while respecting the laws of conception is to acknowledge that one is not the master of the sources of life but rather the minister of the design established by the Creator. Just as man does not have unlimited dominion over his body in general, so also, and with more particular reason, he has no such dominion over his specifically sexual faculties, for these are concerned by their very nature with the generation of life, of which God is the source."
Hot Buttons of the Faith
Mary is the model of the Church. The Church is holy and sinless. Peter and the Apostles are the models of the hierarchy. The hierarchy is never without sin.
Love proclaims that all “faiths” do NOT lead to God
The history of the Jews under the Old Covenant is one long Providential path in which God acts decisively to separate His People from the surrounding nations, all of which worship false gods. This is so obvious that I presume I need not spend much time on it. The Jews are warned again and again to keep themselves separate from all the other nations, including the avoidance of any intermarriage, because the other nations all worship “strange gods”—that is, non-existent gods or idols.
Fruits of the Vatican-Beijing agreement: just the facts
At the going rate of 1.5 episcopal ordinations a year, it would take a bit more than 30 years to provide every Chinese diocese with a bishop.
The threat of a runaway Synod
Having spent the last three years insisting that the Church must be practice “synodal” government, would the Pontiff now countermand a decision by the Synod?
Spiritual Preparation—Turning and Becoming a Child
Dr. Montessori encouraged the adults who work with children to first focus on spiritual preparation of the adult, inner preparation, transformation, especially in virtues of openness, humility, patience, love and respect.
Did Trump really lose the debate?
No, Kamala did not best Trump in that debate. Trump rebutted her points and frequently turned them back on her. Not a knockout, like he scored against Biden. But a win. Or, at worst, a draw. Which, given the numbers right now, is still a Trump win.
Vocation shortage? There’s no such thing.
When a priest or a nun is asked when he or she began thinking seriously about a vocation, the answer is often disarmingly simple: when someone asked.
Athenagoras the Athenian: Apology Not Accepted
The early Christian apologist Athenagoras may not be as famous as some of the other Church fathers, but he’s a great example of someone who started out as an apologist against Christianity, but when he actually learned what the apostles and the Church taught, he was converted. He teaches us about the doctrines of the Trinity, and the Resurrection.
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