Archives for February 2013

March 2013 Homilies

For Sunday Liturgies and Feasts Homilies for March 2013 The Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene by Alexander Ivanov On Fire for the Lord Purpose: When the Lord of all life draws near, we are to bear fruit.  To flourish in his se … [Read more...]

On striving for perfection

Our ultimate goal in life, a supernatural goal, which is the face-to-face vision of God in heaven for all eternity, is a state of perfection.  Gradual progress or growth from imperfect to perfect is a natural characteristic of all living … [Read more...]

Sent Forth to Father a People: Christ’s Priesthood in our Time

In our faithfulness to God, it falls to the Church, as the announcer of the Good News concerning mankind, and more especially to her priests, to begin re-establishing a civilization of truth and love, and the life that springs forth from … [Read more...]

Symbols and the “Hermeneutic of Continuity”

The camauro appears in the portraits of popes before the Reformation. Its revival for a single occasion by Pope Benedict XVI was surely within his well-known program of the “hermeneutic of continuity."   From left to right: Pope Innocent V … [Read more...]

A Dialogue with the HHS Mandate

Editor’s Note: The so-called HHS Mandate, enacted by the United States Department of Health and Human Services in January 2012, has been the subject of growing controversy and pending lawsuits. It requires nearly all private health i … [Read more...]

Making sense of another ambiguous “compromise”

Bishop's Corner The scholar, Yuval Levin, has stressed that the new HHS mandate proposal, “like the versions that have preceded it, betrays a complete lack of understanding of both religious liberty and religious conscience.” To live w … [Read more...]

Pope Benedict’s Resignation

For the latest information on Pope Benedict's decision to resign, go to Catholic World Report at: http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Default.aspx … [Read more...]

Legislation creating ”same-sex” marriage: What’s at stake?

Bishop's Corner

Marriage comes to us from nature ... neither Church nor State invented marriage, and neither can change its nature.  At the beginning of the New Year, 2013, a law is being proposed in the General Assembly to change the legal definition … [Read more...]

Christian Life and Education: The Christian Belief in God

The sacramental vision of an authentically Christian education enjoys the sense of the holy in all things, and imparts a kind of sanctity to the study of all disciplines, seeing in each an avenue to the Creator Logos ... (it) is an aspect … [Read more...]

Catholicism

Catholicism is not simply another “religion ... the sacrifice of the cross (the Mass) is not something that a natural religion could or did figure out. It had to be made known to man by God himself.   I. A brief, accurate statement of wh … [Read more...]

Imitation of Jesus, Priest and Victim, and the Grace of Celibacy

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...]

What Evangelicals Can Learn From Catholics

The biggest thing that Evangelicals can learn from Catholics is how to worship ... liturgy, when celebrated reverently, can also give worshipers a connection to the sacred that is just not available through the type of worship service ... … [Read more...]