The Biblical Mariology of Pope Benedict XVI, Part II

Blessed Is She

In the first part of this article, I demonstrated how Pope Benedict XVI, erudite biblical theologian that he is, grounds his Mariology in an ardent love of Sacred Scripture. In this article, the second of the two parts, I will demonstrate … [Read more...]

“Go and Call Your Husband”: What Enables a Marriage to Endure?

The unity of will between a husband and wife that God establishes is realized also through a life that is fully shared. A marriage is contracted as a result of the consent of the spouses, and this consent needs to be renewed each … [Read more...]

The Holy Family, Celibacy, and Marriage: A Reflection on the “Passage” from the Jewish Rite of Marriage to the Sacrament of Marriage

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...]

Mythbuster Extraordinaire: How Benedict Tackled False Christologies

Christians sense there is something radically wrong in trying to put Christ into strange molds, where long-held Christian beliefs about Christ are attacked from all sides. As Benedict stated in his Dunwoodie address to seminarians, to see … [Read more...]

Benedict XVI on Freedom in Obedience to the Truth: A Key for the New Evangelization

... the more fundamental task ... is to form human hearts, beginning with those who have already been evangelized and need to be “newly evangelized,” those who know something already, but are not living it; those who are showing up in the pe … [Read more...]

1 Kings 13 and the Child of Isaiah 7: Precedence and the Numerology of Matthew’s Gospel

...(Pope Benedict's) last book, and his announcement of his retirement, were an affirmation of the Virgin Mary’s predestination, and her child’s virginal conception at the Annunciation. ... Pope Benedict had great trust in the continued mate … [Read more...]

The Person of Jesus Unites Himself with the Unborn

I began to meditate on the awesome truth that Almighty God, became fully human, feeding on nutrients and oxygen within the blood of his Blessed Mother, as is every human fetus fed by his or her natural mother. ...Jesus teaches, by his … [Read more...]

On “Whose God Is God?”

The problem is not with God. The problem is already located in the classical Garden in Genesis, the question of man preferring his own world to that more noble world that God has destined him for, and in which, being the kind of being he … [Read more...]

Jesus’ Infancy through the Eyes of Benedict XVI

As Benedict’s entire Jesus of Nazareth trilogy masterfully illustrates, the answer lies in carefully balanced exegesis that takes the historicity of the Gospels seriously, while also attending to the particularities of their unique literary … [Read more...]

A Luminous Point for the New Evangelization

She is the singular star that draws us into the will of the Father by reminding us to “do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:10). Star and Sure Guide At the close of his Apostolic Letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the Beginning of the New Mi … [Read more...]