Victory is a theme dear to the hearts of Catholics, and that’s partly why the feast of October 7 means so much to us: it’s the glorious day Our Lady helped us save Christendom at the battle of Lepanto. In fact, it was originally called the Feast of Our Lady of Victory by Pius V,…
I hope you’ll pardon me if I offer some commentary that is a bit more stream-of-consciousness than usual. The storm is gathering, but life goes on. I’ve had a couple of days this week, mostly related to my children and their end of quarter school events, that have kept me away from my desk for…
Epistle: Ephesians 4:1-6 Gospel: Matthew 22:34-46 Grant, we beseech You, O Lord, that Your people may avoid the temptations of the devil, and with pure minds follow You, the only God. – From the Collect for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost (Note: some parishes may be celebrating the External Solemnity of Our Lady of the…
Although active participation may have dissipated as a liturgical rallying call, it remains an unusually revealing and concise way to track how the Church has evolved over recent decades. This was a new concept in regards to liturgy, and its importance is paramount, as it is a frequently cited justification for the 20th-century liturgical reforms.…
The Church’s most urgent need… How would you define it? Here is how Bishop Athanasius Schneider once answered the question: Before we can expect efficacious and lasting fruits from the new evangelization, a process of conversion must get under way within the Church. How can we call others to convert while, among those doing the…
On Monday, September 30, Pope Francis — the first Jesuit pope — sat down in the library of the Apostolic Palace with fellow Jesuit Fr. James Martin for a half-hour private audience. Gerard O’Connell, writing for the Jesuit-run America magazine, says, “It was their third meeting but their first substantial conversation.” Be that as it may, Martin is hardly an…
I recall arguing once with a Catholic friend of mine during our teenage years. He was from a big city far away and attended a publicly funded Catholic high school. I was a homeschooled boy from the country. The debate was on whether there were souls in Hell. I held the ideologically rigid belief that…
In my last piece on this topic a few people pointed out to me a glaring omission. Here I will attempt to remedy this and briefly discuss a few crucial distinctions that we must keep in mind. Suggestion to Sin In the last piece, we discussed sources of scrupulosity in pride. While it is true…
Prayer is man’s richest boon. It is his light, his nourishment, and his very life, for it brings him into communication with God, who is light , nourishment, and life. But of ourselves we know not what we should pray for as we ought; we must needs, therefore, address ourselves to Jesus Christ, and say…
The Spanish language online portal Religión Digital has a new interview this week with Cardinal Walter Kasper, who always seems to show up in the media right before Pope Francis makes another major move in the advancement of his “reform” agenda. This time, he’s talking about the possibility of schism, the German church’s synchronicity with Rome,…
Epistle: Apocalypse 1:1-15 Gospel: Matthew 18:1-10 O God, Who assign according to a wondrous order the duties of Angels and men, mercifully grant that our life on earth be guarded by those who continually stand in Your presence and minister to You in heaven. – From the Collect for the Dedication of St. Michael the…
