The Catholic life is filled with resolutions. Confession is not valid without a good resolution to avoid sin [1]. Every morning offering is a new resolution, and every new year is an occasion for resolutions. Why is the Devil so successful in bringing our resolutions to naught? In this article, we will cover the most common…
I had never read the Bible, which is to say, the whole Bible. The extent of my Bible reading had been the passages read during Sunday Mass and the occasional daily Mass. So when I learned about Dr. Taylor Marshall’s plan for reading the entire (Catholic) Bible in one year, I decided to do it.…
While it is true to say that only God can ultimately convert people, it is equally true to assert that God wills to employ men as instruments in the great work of conversion. Pius XII wrote in Mystici Corporis, “As our Savior does not rule the Church directly in a visible manner, He wills to…
“Mom, why are you cutting a piece of the roast off?” asks a little girl, watching her mother place a roast beef into a roasting pan. “Because that’s what my mom did.” “Grandma,” asks the girl later, “why did you cut a piece of the roast off before cooking it?” “Because that’s what my mom…
Epistle: Acts 4:8-12 Gospel: Luke 2:21 O God, Who didst appoint Thine only-begotten Son the Saviour of mankind, and didst bid that He should be called Jesus: mercifully grant that we may enjoy the vision of Him in Heaven, Whose holy Name we venerate on earth. – From the Collect for the Most Holy Name…
Editor’s note: This article comes to 1P5 via an anonymous Catholic, whose identity we are protecting at the author’s request. In these confusing times, when so many voices are vying for attention and claiming to give answers to important questions, it can be difficult to hear the authentic voice of Catholic teaching on certain moral…
There is a rhythm to life, to the seasons of the year, to the day, from its dawning to its close, to the history of the world. There is a rhythm to the liturgy of the Church, and there is a rhythm to the Bible, with its opening at the beginning of time and its…
In this Christmas season we are invited to worship the Divine Word, the invisible Second Person of the Holy Trinity, who is made visible. “He has come to lift up all things to himself, to restore unity to creation” (Preface of Christmas II). The idea of “Christ as Jesus of Nazareth, man, not God incarnate”…
A mechanically inclined friend of mine once commented that a church in his city looks like an enormous Harley Davidson that was disassembled and dropped in a heap of parts. I’ve seen the place from the outside, and my friend’s description is apt. It’s struck me that too much of the Catholic Church in recent…
The Warehouse District in New Orleans, a stone’s throw from the French Quarter, is home to eclectic art galleries; one of-a-kind shops; and two very different museums, though these particular museums share the same theme: war. Located at 945 Magazine Street, the World War II Museum is the most popular attraction in the city. It…
We conclude our series on the Four Last Things. Read the first three parts on death, judgment, and the fires of Hell. St. Benedict sums up the spiritual necessity of the Four Last Things in his chapter “What Are the Instruments of Good Works”: To have wholesome fear of the day of judgment. With fear…
