“Christian marriage ... is in itself a liturgical action glorifying God in Jesus Christ and in the Church” (Familiaris Consortio, 56) (Man, Male and Female, is a "religious being" (CCC, 28[1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, hereafter CCC … [Read more...]
Archives for 2016
Parents as Primary Educators
February 12, 2016 by Dr. William Newton
Hardly a month goes by now without an email arriving in my inbox asking me to sign an online petition against some proposal in the EU or UK concerning sex education in schools. Perhaps, it is a matter of protesting a resolution calling for … [Read more...]
Wives, Be Subordinate to Your Husbands?
John Paul II on Ephesians 5:21-33
February 12, 2016 by Dr. Katie Froula
Ephesians 5:21-33 isn’t a popular reading at weddings these days, and at first glance, it seems that it isn’t hard to see why. Aren’t St. Paul’s repeated exhortations for wives to be submissive to their husbands rather sexist and outdated? H … [Read more...]
Anemic Parishes and Parish Life
February 12, 2016 by Mrs. Frances J. Ford
We all know the Catholic Church can never die, because her Head, Jesus Christ, is alive and can never die. However, the Church can certainly be anemic and deathly ill—which she, no doubt, is in America. I will examine some of the reasons f … [Read more...]
Questions Answered
February 12, 2016 by Fr. Brian Mullady, OP
Question: Can you define the sensus fidelium, and explain why it can’t be used to dissent from Catholic teaching? Answer: The term sensus fidelium (understanding of the faithful) has led to a great many difficulties in the Catholic C … [Read more...]
Winter Reading for February 2016
February 12, 2016 by Book Reviews
The Ancient Path: Old Lessons from the Church Fathers for a New Life Today. John Michael Talbot with Mike Aquilina. (New York: Image, 2015) 203 pages; $22.00. (Reviewed by Ken Colston) Richard John Neuhaus (A Life in the Public Square). … [Read more...]
Homilies for February 2016
February 1, 2016 by Fr. Daniel Richards
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time—February 7, 2016 The Apostles: Guided by the Holy Spirit Purpose: In order to hear God’s call and respond, we cannot depend on human insight alone, but must allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit … [Read more...]
The Pillars of Lent
February 1, 2016 by David Vincent Meconi
The purifying Season of Lent is quickly upon us. We human persons are enabled to do something that lower creatures cannot, and higher creatures need not: to sacrifice and thus to learn to delay partial gratifications for even greater … [Read more...]
Make Your Hearts Firm This Lent
February 1, 2016 by Maria Cintorino
During Lent, the Church calls the faithful to conversion by calling to mind the image of Christ being drawn into the desert by the Spirit. There, for forty days and forty nights, Jesus prays, fasts, and is tempted by the devil. By … [Read more...]
The Priest: The Gift of Self
February 1, 2016 by Fr. Vincent Miller, STL
Two fundamental principles run through the famous passage from Pope Paul VI’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes (24:3), which reads, “This likeness {between the union of the Divine Persons, and the uni … [Read more...]
Applying Some Thoughts on Preaching
February 1, 2016 by Fr. Paul Anthony McGavin
Following my article, “Some Thoughts on Preaching” (March 13, 2015), I received an invitation from the editor to prepare homily notes for September 2015. This essay is not a "homily notes" example, but an example of assembling one’s though … [Read more...]
Preaching to the Young Casualties of the Sexual Revolution
February 1, 2016 by Neil Kane
For over 40 years, it has been my privilege, challenge, and joy to teach Catholic theology. I began with the somewhat maligned Junior High level (seventh grade in my parish elementary school lingo), and then Catholic high school (Grades … [Read more...]
Renewal and the Remnant
February 1, 2016 by Maria O'Shea
Sabotage within and “missiles” from without: when it comes to the fortunes of the Church, it seems there is nothing new under the sun. Like our ancestors, the ancient Israelites, we live in a “mixed economy” and have to deal with the tension … [Read more...]
Propers of the Mass Versus the Four-Hymn Sandwich
Two Catholic Scholars Look at "The Great Catholic Music Debate"
January 15, 2016 by Roseanne T. Sullivan
(The subtitle of this article refers to "The Great Catholic Music Debate: 'Post-Vatican Folk' vs. 'Reformist Retro'" by Bill Kassel, which appeared in this magazine, August 9, 2015. … [Read more...]
Nilus Cabasilas and a Modern Greek Theologian on “the Heresy of Anti-Papism”
January 15, 2016 by James Likoudis
Nilus Cabasilas (c. 1295-1363) succeeded Gregory Palamas on the archepiscopal throne of Thessalonika, and was one of the most distinguished Byzantine intellectuals and theologians of the 14th century. He was heavily involved in the … [Read more...]
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