Archives for January 2017

Homilies for February 2017

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time—February 5, 2017 Readings: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/020517.cfm IS 58:7-10;PS 112:4-5, 6-7, 8-9;1 COR 2:1-5; MT 5:13-16. Living as Salt and Light Light. Where would we be without it? In the dark. We … [Read more...]

Father John Navone, S.J.

His obituary plus two of his articles.

Fr. John "Jack" Navone, S.J., died on Christmas Day 2016. He was one of our regular contributors, and will be missed by all of us at HPR, and those who faithfully followed his thoughtful essays. May he rest in peace! We are including two … [Read more...]

The New Pagans and the Church

A 1958 Lecture by Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). Translated by Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J.

According to religious statistics, old Europe is still a part of the earth that is almost completely Christian. But there is hardly another case in which everyone knows as well as they do here that the statistic is false: This so-called … [Read more...]

The Theological Virtue of Faith: Assent and Certitude

Of the seven fundamental virtues,[1. Faith, Hope, Charity (Theological) and Prudence, Fortitude, Justice, Temperance (Cardinal)] Faith, Hope, and Charity are the Theological virtues because they orient us to God; Prudence, Courage, Justice, … [Read more...]

Gender Dysphoria in Children

ABSTRACT: Gender dysphoria (GD) of childhood describes a psychological condition in which children experience a marked incongruence between their experienced gender and the gender associated with their biological sex. When this occurs in … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

Question: Would you care to comment on women deaconesses? The question of reinstating them has been raised by a Cardinal. Answer: The question of women deaconesses is a long and complicated one. It has arisen because the Church is clear … [Read more...]

Leisure: The Basis of Everything?

At the start of every semester, I know that I will need to undertake a kind of philosophical apologetics. I need to make my students see that philosophy is important. Indeed, it is really a matter of making them see that it actually exists, … [Read more...]

What is Christianity?

An Evangelical Catholic and Reformed View of Faith and Culture

The only strength with which Christianity can make its influence felt publicly is ultimately the strength of its intrinsic truth. This strength, though, is as indispensable today as it ever was, because man cannot survive without truth. … [Read more...]

Fatima and the “signs of the times” needs a closer look

Prologue: In search of a common point of departure and dialogue While we should not recklessly seek signs from God, the Scriptures and the Second Vatican Council both assert that it is wise to be able to read the "signs of the times" (Mt. … [Read more...]

Index Lectionum: Scripture Usage in Roman Catholic Masses Before and After Vatican II

A Book Review

Matthew P Hazell & Dr. Peter A Kwasniewski (Foreword), Index Lectionum: A Comparative Table of Readings for the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite, Volume I (Lectionary Study Press, 2016). The creation of a new form … [Read more...]

Law and Freedom—“Do I Have to Go to Church Today, Mom!?”

I don’t do apologetics. I can do apologetics, I have a background in theology, from seminary formation, as well as Catholic graduate education. I do catechesis, I teach and do theology, my understanding of the New Evangelization is what the … [Read more...]

The Human Person Is a Bioethical Word

The Need to Recover the Humanity of the Human Race

Leonardo Da Vinci Pencil Drawings The choice in our time is this: either we are equally in receipt of the gift of life[1. Cf. Donum vitae, Introduction, 1.] or the ethical outcome of the "survival of the fittest" is that the fittest … [Read more...]

Winter Reading 2017

A Theology of Grace in Six Controversies. Edward T. Oakes, S.J. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2016) 248 pages; $28.00 paperback. Reviewed by Steven J. Meyer, S.T.D. John Lawrence Hill, After the Natural Law: How the Classical … [Read more...]