In these times of “politically correct” religious and moral bewilderment, in which Christmas carols are purged of Christian references, when they are not replaced with other songs, times in which Nativity scenes are rejected in the name of a misunderstood religious neutrality and a misrepresented secularity, the call, found in the pope’s recent apostolic letter…
Read the Gospels. You will see a constant theme of our Lord’s preaching: the Four Last Things. Last week, we covered death. Now we take up the subject of judgment. The Imitation: To many the saying, “Deny thyself, take up thy cross and follow Me,” seems hard, but it will be much harder to hear…
This week on the 1P5 Minute, Steve talks about the new examination of conscience for “Eco Sins” being pushed by the Bishops of England & Wales. AND: A new report out this week indicates that the Vatican engaged in “covert & deceptive” methods in the diversion of 50 million euros away from a children’s hospital…
At the suggestion of Father Dave Nix, I recently read the short work by Joel Peters entitled “Scripture Alone? 21 Reasons to Reject Sola Scriptura.” It is a fast read and probably the most crushing blow to Protestantism I have ever read. You simply cannot argue with Peters’s logic and the historical facts he presents…
Fr. Dwight Longenecker is a fine writer. No one expresses a certain point of view better than he does. I’m not sure how to characterize it exactly; it might be described as a via-media-at-all-costs, the straight road that veers not off to left or right. He is determined to place himself between the extremes of…
Mass Exodus: Catholic Disaffiliation in Britain and America since Vatican II Stephen Bullivant Oxford University Press 336 pages $32.95 hardback, $24.99 e-book If you want to start a heated debate in Catholic circles, just state an opinion about the Second Vatican Council’s impact on attrition rates in the modern Church. While many implicate Vatican II…
It can be bewildering, when reading about modern liturgical reforms in the Catholic Church, to compare reality (such as the disappearance of Gregorian Chant in the liturgy) with the intention, rationale, or official narrative (Gregorian Chant should have pride of place in the liturgy). While the fruits of these reforms are increasingly well documented, what…
The appointment [on Sunday, December 8] of Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Propaganda Fidei) is an important signal for many reasons, but above all because it places us in a context in which we may suspect that Pope Bergoglio is thinking that the end…
“Tota pulchra es, Maria” is the cry of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary — a cry that rises towards the All Beautiful One, in which the splendor of God’s glory shines. They are words of ancient Franciscan origin, which are found even today in the antiphons sung, or read,…
Epistle: Proverbs 8:22-35 Gospel: Luke 1:26-28 O God, Who by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, prepared a worthy dwelling for Your Son, and Who, by Your Son’s death, foreseen by You, preserved her from all taint, grant, we beseech You, through her intercession, that we too may come to You unstained by sin. –…
Already the first great jewel threaded onto the strands of the new liturgical year is upon us: the glorious Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This year, December 8 falls on a Sunday. Yet this feast is so important that it supersedes the Mass of the Second Sunday of Advent in the traditional calendar. Dom Prosper…
