Convert from Lutheranism, ordained to the priesthood in 1991 by St. John Paul II in Rome for the Suburbicarian Diocese of Velletri-Segni. Classics at University of Minnesota. Licence and Doctoral studies in Patristic Theology at the Augustinianum in Rome. Formerly a collaborator of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei," moderator of the Catholic Online Forum, columnist for The Wanderer and the UK's Catholic Herald, Fox News contributor. Speaker. Blogist. fatherzonline.com @fatherz
Author: Fr. John Zuhlsdorf
The Drills of a Militant Church
The essence of a cliché is that it is unoriginal and often repeated. However, as the old Latin phrase goes, repetita iuvant… repeated things help. Allow me to get an initial cliché out of the way: with the 1st Sunday …
This is Our Time, Come What May
Excita, quaesumus, Domine, tuorum fidelium voluntates… Stir up the wills of your people, O Lord… Thus begins the Collect for Holy Mass for this 24th and Last Sunday after Pentecost. In a few short days, shorter and shorter in the …
Whatever Tribulation is on the Horizon, Be of Good Cheer!
Year in and year out we celebrate the liturgical cycles. Year in and year out the cycles do not change. We do. With each round through the sacred liturgical year, we are different. We’ve had our ups and downs, our …
Sinful Clerics of a Spotless Church
Some people might be scratching their heads wondering how we wind up with a “resumed” Sunday, sometimes called “remaining” or “left over” (Latin superfuit), after Epiphany in the month of November. Isn’t Epiphany at the beginning of January? So how …
“No One Can be at the Same Time a Good Catholic and a True Socialist”
The royal families of Europe were falling one by one. Secularist atheistic materialism was on the rise. In the wake of the gory First World War Pope Pius XI looked out over the world and, in 1922, issued an encyclical …
XXII Sunday after Pentecost
A short time ago, I ran into a claim that in the near future devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus would be more and more important. Think about how our ecclesial pastors have, through neglect and even expressions of …
XXI Sunday after Pentecost
Collect: Keep Thy household, O Lord, with continual loving-kindness, that by Thy protection it may be free from all adversities and devoted to Thy name in well-doing. Epistle: Ephesians vi. 10-17 Gospel: Matthew xviii. 23-35 An image of the torments of …
XX Sunday after Pentecost
“Brethren: Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Eph …
XIX Sunday after Pentecost
Collect: Almighty and merciful God, in Thy loving-kindness do Thou keep us from all things that war against us, that, being unhampered alike in soul and in body, we may with free minds perform the works that are Thine. Epistle: …
XVIII Sunday after Pentecost
Collect: Let the operation of Thy mercy, we beseech Thee, O Lord, direct our hearts, for without Thee we cannot please Thee. Epistle: I Corinthians i. 4-6 Gospel: Matthew ix. 1-8 In the northern hemisphere, the shift is on from …