The miracle and mystery of divine guidance has been the primary constituent element of Church teaching over the centuries, and this guidance is what makes Tradition “sacred,” but rarely is it linked with the teaching of any other doc … [Read more...]
The Holy Family, Celibacy, and Marriage: A Reflection on the “Passage” from the Jewish Rite of Marriage to the Sacrament of Marriage
August 11, 2014 by Francis Etheredge
If the sacrament of marriage came to be specified at a particular moment, then as the renewal of marriage was itself an indication of a new beginning ... it makes sense that the marriage of Mary and Joseph was precisely the implicitly … [Read more...]
“Ressourcement,” “Aggiornamento,” and Vatican II in Ecumenical Perspective
July 26, 2014 by Eduardo Echeverria
(S)ome interpreters of Vatican II took renewal to be merely a matter of the Church’s adaptation or accommodation to the standards of the modern world ... they took aggiornamento as an “isolated motive for renewal” ... simply adapting to the … [Read more...]
Ora et Labora … and Vacation??
June 11, 2014 by Sr. M. Regina van den Berg, FSGM
Religious ... are joined to Christ in his poverty, chastity, and obedience by a “total life-long gift of themselves.” For the consecrated religious, then, times of rest are to serve the total gift of self, as the gift is expressed both in … [Read more...]
The Virgin Birth, Perpetual Virginity, and NFP
May 23, 2014 by Deacon W. Patrick Cunningham
...we need to look back at the reign of Joseph’s direct ancestor, the great King David ... (which) will help us understand that Mary was ... the lifelong Spouse of the Holy Spirit, and that Joseph was her protector, but not her sexual p … [Read more...]
How to Help Cohabiting Couples
April 23, 2014 by Fr. Ted Martin
I would like to point out what I believe to be the via media, whereby these our brothers and sisters in Christ can both be welcomed and challenged to live the call of their baptism. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the … [Read more...]
‘Til Death Do Thee Part
April 10, 2014 by Rev. Joseph C. Klee
The necessary manifestations of love, to include self-sacrifice and self-giving, and an ongoing readiness to forgive, could only continue to be present in a marriage fueled by God’s graces. By the basic principles of neurology, we know t … [Read more...]
“Where your synthesis is, there lies your heart.” An Early Look at Pope Francis’ Vision for the Church
February 21, 2014 by Fr. Joseph A. Tetlow, SJ
Jesus Christ is the center – the driving source – of the entire Exhortation. Those who have been called, and have accepted Christ are sent into their particular life’s world to spread his name, and to do it joyfully. The sentence: “Wher … [Read more...]
An Essay on Natural Family Planning
February 8, 2014 by Dr. Charles W. Norris, M.D.
The Catholic Church has never opposed family planning, but she teaches through her Magisterium, or teaching authority, that man may not, of his own volition, separate the two meanings of the conjugal act, the unitive and the procreative, … [Read more...]
A Liberationist Pope
February 7, 2014 by Dr. Michel Therrien, STD
Read carefully: We should see in this critique (by Pope Francis), not an embrace of socialism, or a condemnation of the market economy, but a call to adopt a different ethic for the marketplace. Pope Francis is a Jesuit, a prelate from … [Read more...]
Fasting and the Call to Holiness
October 10, 2013 by John B. Buescher
Our salvation depends wholly on God’s grace, of which we are completely undeserving. But through fasting, as well as through prayer and almsgiving, we can open up space for God’s grace to enter. The Second Vatican Council’s document, … [Read more...]
“Humanae Vitae” and Sacred Scripture: A Missed Opportunity
July 20, 2013 by Rev. Ray E. Atwood
While prophetic in many ways, the most controversial encyclical of the twentieth century might have been better received had a stronger biblical argument been made in its favor. This July 2013 we commemorate the 45th anniversary of Pope … [Read more...]
Celebrating “Humanae Vitae” 45 Years Later
July 6, 2013 by David Vincent Meconi
The one night stand may not have been born in the 60s, but it was granted acceptance and serial permanence. ... the Holy Father saw how a general lowering of overall morality would be the result of such self-centeredness. Humanae Vitae … [Read more...]
The New Evangelization: The Holiness of the Church
April 22, 2013 by Michael Hull
The New Evangelization is our cooperation with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the 21st century ... an evangelization foreshadowed by Vatican II, according to Popes John XXIII and Paul VI ... an evangelization whose importance became m … [Read more...]
Imitation of Jesus, Priest and Victim, and the Grace of Celibacy
February 6, 2013 by Fr. Dwight Campbell
By reason of our priestly consecration, we are called to be perfect imitators of Christ; we are called to be priests and victims in the manner of Jesus who is the Priest and Victim. (This was a talk delivered at a day of recollection for … [Read more...]
Recent Comments