Epistle: Romans 8:12-17 Gospel: Luke 16:1-9 Bestow upon us, O Lord, we beseech Thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we who cannot exist without Thee, may be able to live according to …
Just because It Sounds Right Doesn’t Mean It Is Right
A Catholic teaching sister once took a young boy to task who, when asked why a certain verb form should be used instead of another, responded, “Because the other word doesn’t sound right.” “No, no, no!” said Sr. Ruth, “you …
Is the American Church a Prison for the Mind?
The American Catholic is comfortable. This is a person who has remained in the Church despite all of the reasons others have found for leaving; a person who feels good inside after Mass; a person who is glad that the …
Papal Infallibility: Peter and Paul Are Interdependent
We see in the Latin liturgical tradition an interesting thing: with the major feast on June 29 as well as the minor feasts, both apostles are always commemorated [1]. If the feast is chiefly of the Prince of the Apostles, then …
The Catholic Case for Sticking a Fork in the Jesuits
As I write this piece, I am wearing around my neck my St. Francis Xavier medal. I wear it almost always. At home, at work, at Mass, even while working out at the gym or playing hockey, it is always …
Vigano: “What We Are Now Seeing is the Triumph of a 60-year-old Plan”
In his most recent letter about his visit with Archbishop Vigano, Inside the Vatican‘s Robert Moynihan relates something Vigano told him that caught my attention: And yet, now, as the October Amazon Synod draws near, and Catholic theologians increasingly find …
The Death of the Lebanon Cedar
The prophet Ezekiel gives us the “allegory of the cedar,” which teaches us personal and political lessons. In that prophecy, Egypt is compared to a cedar tree grown tall and beautiful. As it grew, however, it became arrogant — “its …
‘It Hath Hated Me before You’: Interview with Fr. Vaughn Treco, Excommunicated for Preaching the Faith
“Christ was crucified on earth and the Church is crucified in time, and the Church is crucified by all of us, by her members most particularly because She is a Church of sinners.” —Flannery O’Connor. There is quite a lot …
The Filioque: A Call to the Separated East to Come Home
[1] Five Ecumenical Councils approved a letter of Patriarch St. Cyril of Alexandria that taught the Dogma of the Filioque! Cardinal St. Robert Bellarmine gives a manifest proof establishing the doctrine from the authority of five ecumenical councils: Omitting these …
Why the Death Penalty Teaching Change Is a Perfect Doctrinal Trojan Horse
I’ve already written at length about the longstanding Catholic teaching about the death penalty and why Pope Francis is wrong in his attempts to change it. I won’t, therefore, rehash those arguments here. For the purposes of this particular debate, …
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