The bronze serpent mounted on a pole in the Book of Numbers (21:9) is one of the Old Testament types cited by Jesus himself: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.” (Jn 3:14) The original … [Read more...]
Questions Answered – February 2024
January 26, 2024 by Fr. Brian Mullady, OP
Intentions in Jesus’ Moral Teaching Question: A Christian teacher states that the Sermon on the Mount contradicts the classic division of sin into mortal and venial. It does this by giving greater and greater punishment for lesser and l … [Read more...]
Theology of Suffering and the New Evangelization
November 24, 2023 by Cole DeSantis
In August of 2022, Bishop Robert Barron took part in an interview with the actor Shia LaBeouf to discuss his conversion to the Catholic faith. LaBeouf’s conversion was influenced in part by his being cast to portray Padre Pio in a movie by A … [Read more...]
God and Man in the Apocalypse of the Cross
February 24, 2023 by Philip Primeau
The presentation of our holy faith is often hobbled by a failure to demonstrate the organic unity of its constituent parts, a problem much lamented by Pope Francis, who has observed that Christianity is frequently reduced to a “disjointed . … [Read more...]
Questions Answered – February 2023
January 27, 2023 by Fr. Brian Mullady, OP
God “Breaks Into” Time Question: Why do we say that God is breaking into human history when speaking of Jesus? What is God breaking into? The Heaven-Earth divide? Answer: This term, which comes to us from contemporary theology, is act … [Read more...]
The Essence of Fatherhood
Fundamental for Any True Shepherd of the Church
April 28, 2022 by Rev. Kenneth M. Dos Santos, MIC
Should Catholics ever fall into a concept of God which disregards the Three Distinct Persons of the Blessed Trinity, in favor of One God with three functions or modes of operation? And does not this concept weaken the possibility of a … [Read more...]
Dying With Christ
A Mystery Begun in Baptism and Perfected in Death
March 26, 2022 by Dr. Katie Froula
“What is essentially new about Christian death” — declares the Catechism — “is this: through Baptism, the Christian has already ‘died with Christ’ sacramentally, in order to live a new life; and if we die in Christ’s grace, physical death co … [Read more...]
The Passion of the Lord: His Interior Sufferings
March 26, 2022 by Maria Cintorino
The Angelic Doctor notes that meditations on “matters relating to Christ’s humanity are the chief incentive to love and devotion.”[1. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province (New York: Benziger Brot … [Read more...]
The Year of Joseph
February 26, 2022 by Mark Drogin
I hear Joseph silently confessing his sinfulness to the Angel of the Lord (see Matthew 1:18–25): “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the Word and my soul shall be healed.” We have critical memory los … [Read more...]
Christian Joy and Human Sadness
January 27, 2022 by S. E. Greydanus
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). This and other exhortations in Scripture have shaped Christian tradition with the understanding that joy is meant to be part of our life. It’s traditionally counted a … [Read more...]
Reflections on Three Saving Mysteries of the Christmas Season
November 24, 2021 by Jeffrey Tranzillo
“I will tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to me, ‘You are my son, today I have begotten you’” (Ps 2:7). The psalmist is referring here to Israel’s anointed, or messianic, king. As God’s anointed one, he is God’s “son,” God’s earthly re … [Read more...]
The Final Battle: Marriage and Family
July 29, 2021 by Mark Drogin
One: Mary-with-Joseph is the Terror of Demons In 1917, in the month of May, when special devotions to Mary are observed, our Blessed Mother appeared to three small children in Fatima, Portugal. She spoke to them and promised she would … [Read more...]
Images of God’s Temple in Salvation History
Its Fulfillment in Christ
July 29, 2021 by J.T. Knox
Four thousand years ago God promised Abraham that through his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Implicitly this promise guaranteed a redeeming sacrifice for all mankind. In a reply to his son, Isaac, Abraham had uttered … [Read more...]
The Biblical Mariology of Pope Benedict XVI, Part 1
Hail, Full of Grace
May 20, 2021 by Marcus Benedict Peter
“The unique and unrepeatable position that Mary occupies in the Community of Believers . . . stems from her fundamental vocation to being Mother of the Redeemer. Precisely as such, Mary is also Mother of the Mystical Body of Christ, which i … [Read more...]
Hope: A Virtue for Our Time
Faith, hope, and charity are the three theological virtues — the three virtues that direct us immediately and rightly to God Himself.[1. St. Thomas Aquinas says that the theological virtues are called “Theological” for three reasons: God is … [Read more...]
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