For all the depth hidden in Scripture, it can often appear barebones to the storyteller; frequently only the simplest actions, the most basic order of events, is described. One can hunger for more detail, for more color, for more character. … [Read more...]
Doing Ministry for the Sake of the Apostolate
January 14, 2021 by Jordan Haddad
In the fifty-plus years since the close of the Second Vatican Council, the Church has witnessed a rapid growth of lay ecclesial ministry, of members of the lay faithful participating in a wide variety of ministerial functions and roles in … [Read more...]
Evangelization: The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
December 23, 2020 by Christina M. Sorrentino
A significant number of Catholics — according to the latest Pew Research Center survey, almost two-thirds of self-identifying Catholics — do not believe in the Real Presence. [1. OSV Editorial Board, “The Real Presence,” Our Sunday Visitor, … [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...]
How Should We Think about Diversity of Religions?
June 24, 2020 by Kathleen Curran Sweeney
There seems to be some confusion abroad these days about diversity of religions. We can find in the writings of Fr. Henri de Lubac, SJ, as well as in St. Thomas Aquinas, principles helpful on this question. Does every human person need … [Read more...]
The Eucharist as Source and Summit of Evangelization in the Recent Magisterium
December 28, 2019 by Fr. Charles Fox
“Yes, if only I am lifted up from the earth, I will attract all men to myself.”[1. Jn 12:32. All Scriptural quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the Knox Translation of the Bible.] In recent decades, the Church’s Magisterium has rep … [Read more...]
Book Reviews – December 2019
December 28, 2019 by Book Reviews
The Girl Who Learned How to Kneel: The Story of Etty Hillesum By Patricia McCarthy. Reviewed by Magdalena Randal. (skip to review) The Bible and the Gospel: The Meaning of Scripture — From the God Who Speaks to the God Made Man By L … [Read more...]
John of the Cross and Exercising Charisms for Evangelization
A Response to Elizabeth Salas
November 25, 2019 by Fr. Mathias D. Thelen, STL
Once in a while I run into statements like: “Catholics shouldn’t seek to exercise the charisms of the Spirit because St. John of the Cross cautioned against them.” Such concerns come in different forms and are usually raised by people who si … [Read more...]
The “Un-hefted” Vanishing Flock
September 30, 2019 by Kevin Wells
When Irishman Declan Dinneny spoke, I caught every fifth word. His voice came in a wild chorus of undulated high pitches that crescendoed when he spoke of something important, like maybe a heifer who’d miscarried that morning. His farm was b … [Read more...]
Our Lady of Good Help, the New Evangelization, and the Priest
June 30, 2019 by Fr. Frederick L. Miller, STD
Allow me to begin by making two confessions: I arrived at the Monastery of the Holy Name of Jesus in Denmark, Wisconsin, on Friday afternoon. I am an old friend of the nuns and try to visit them at least once a year. Two of the nuns, … [Read more...]
Words of Life for Cutting Words
A Catholic Response to Teens on Social Media Writing Sites
January 28, 2019 by Mark C. McCann
With more and more young people reaching out to one another through social media, there has been an increased call for new forms of ministry to teens within these virtual worlds. With the advent of public writing sites that allow for the … [Read more...]
Kazakhstan Bishop Schneider Broadcasts Seeds of Faith Around the World
May 18, 2018 by Roseanne T. Sullivan
His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C, has been referred to in the National Catholic Register as “one of the leading voices of fidelity, continuity, and tradition in the Church today.”[1. Pentin, Edward. “How Bishop Athanasius Sc … [Read more...]
Combating Islam and Secularism
May 18, 2018 by Don Murray
The Catholic Church faces two formidable challenges today, from Islam and from secularism. The responses needed to these two are not unrelated. The adherents to Islam are intensely dedicated to Mohammed, and to the book he claims to have … [Read more...]
Proselytism, Evangelization, and “Ecumenism of Return”
December 12, 2017 by Eduardo Echeverria
In a 2016 interview that was arranged by Fr. Antonio Spadaro, S.J., the editor of La Civiltà Cattolica, prior to the trip to Sweden for an ecumenical gathering anticipating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Pope Francis expressed … [Read more...]
Now Is the Time
The Urgency of the New Evangelization
October 19, 2017 by David H. Delaney, PhD
At the beginning of his pontificate, Saint John Paul the Great coined the term “new evangelization” to describe a great urgency facing the Church. Nearly forty years on, the use of the term is now widespread among Catholics involved in alm … [Read more...]
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