Pope Francis has just published his long-awaited Apostolic Exhortation on the Family, Amoris Laetitia. In it, he repeats many of the problematic and controversial statements of the previous 2014 and 2015 Synods of Bishops on the Family. Among these, one finds …
Category: Sacraments
Sacred Music vs. “Praise & Worship” – Does it Matter? (Pt. II)
Part I | Part II The fundamental problem with Praise & Worship In the first part of this essay, I offered a critique of the profane stylistic traits of Praise & Worship music, whether “soft” or “hard.”[1] Praise & Worship …
Sacred Music vs. “Praise & Worship” – Does it Matter? (Pt. I)
Part I | Part II Whenever the popes speak about sacred (i.e., liturgical) music, the very first quality they put forward is holiness or sanctity, which they describe as a certain worthiness of or suitability for the celebration of the …
Kasper’s Delight: Wargaming the Exhortation
Cardinal Walter Kasper — the most infamous member of the German episcopacy — appears to be just tingly with anticipation for the coming apostolic exhortation on marriage and family. Ed Pentin reports (with my emphasis): According to the Italian newspaper Il Terreno, the German theologian told …
Forgive Me Father For I Have Sinned -Part II: Making A Good Confession
Part 1 | Part 2 The best way to walk through the door of the Confessional is to regularly pray and ask the Lord to lead you there whenever you need it. Remember this, ponder this, and let this sink …
Forgive Me Father, For I Have Sinned – Part I: Why Confession?
Part 1 | Part 2 The Sacrament of Penance (now commonly called “Reconciliation”) is the ordinary means by which the Christian soul is restored to an objective State of Grace/Habitual Grace/Sanctifying Grace. The soul must be in the State of …
Focus vs. Blur: Multi-Sensory Learning, Motivated Focus, & The Mass: Pt. III
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 In Part 1 of this series, we explored how, in a parish committed to the full Catholic paradigm, even something as simple as entering the church can become an exercise in multi-sensory learning, …
A Letter to God From a Child of Divorce
Dear God, Will you please tell book publishers to stop publishing books about “two homes” for children of divorce? Every time I see one, I want to scream. I know those authors and publishers think they are performing a needed …
Is the Mass “Just” the Mass?
In my life, I have often encountered people who say something like the following to Catholics who love the traditional liturgy—or, for that matter, who wish to see the modern liturgy celebrated in a manner manifestly in continuity with its …
Focus vs. Blur: Multi-Sensory Learning, Motivated Focus, & The Mass: Pt. II
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 How Does the Complete Mass Build Motivated Focus? How Does the Minimal Mass Induce Blur? Motivated vs. Coerced Focus In order to clarify the reasons why the “complete Mass”[1] is highly beneficial …