Archives for 2015

The Rights of Conscience

How English Catholic Schools Secured State Grants in an Age of Popular Anti-Catholicism

The United Kingdom was anything but united in the early years of the long reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). The ongoing process of industrialization created deep economic dislocation, with a growing gap between rich and poor. Urban … [Read more...]

Mother of Mercy

On March 13, 2015, His Holiness Pope Francis announced that on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary—December 8, 2015—the Universal Church would enter an Extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy. Why did his Holiness cho … [Read more...]

Ten Commandments for Transformative Preaching

When people walk into church for Mass, they are searching for meaning. Psychologist William Damen, in his book, The Path to Purpose, tells us we are living through a crisis of meaning. Our superficial culture of consumption and … [Read more...]

An Old Philosophy and a New Theology

Jean-Paul Sartre (ca. 1950) and the “Shadow Council” of 2015

It is well known by now that there was a concerted effort on the part of some German Bishops, led by Cardinal Walter Kasper, to engage the 2014 Synod, and interject a liberal agenda into the 2015 Synod. This was an attempt to sway the … [Read more...]

Integral Ecology and the Ecological Virtues in Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’

Introduction Several weeks ago, I made a conscious decision to refrain from reading too much secondary literature on Pope Francis’s impending encyclical, Laudato Si’. And by noon on the day of its release, I was almost depressed. A flood of … [Read more...]

Overlooked and Under-Prayed: The Our Father

The Our Father is simple, easy to memorize and recite, and is thus, easily and often, very poorly prayed. I would say it is abused, is misused, and even is, shamefully, to the point of dishonoring the Lord, who personally gave this prayer … [Read more...]

The Synod’s End and an Advent Prayer Time for the Church

Pope Francis During Extraordinary Synod of Bishops; Advent wreath.  The Synod on the Family, called by Pope Francis to address: “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and the contemporary world,” has come to a close. There ha … [Read more...]

Sacred Liturgy: Great Mystery, Great Mercy

Archbishop Peter Richard Kenrick Lecture, Kenrick Glennon Seminary, St Louis, MO, October 8, 2015

Reflecting on the state of divine worship in the Church, I believe that this is a good time for Catholics of the Roman Rite, a very good time. Fifty years after the Second Vatican Council initiated a liturgical reform in the Constitution on … [Read more...]

Advent Preparation through the Daily Office of Readings

Introduction One of the great treasures of the Church is its Morning Office of Readings, which throughout the liturgical year offers both scriptural readings and meditations from the fathers and doctors of the Church, along with the … [Read more...]

Catholic Men, the Spiritual Life, and Our Growth in Holiness-Perfection

Living Faith as Conversion, Knowledge, and Joy According to the Thought of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

A Catholic Christian spiritual life has often been described in terms of “ways,” “stages,” “degrees,” and “conversions.”[1. See, e.g., among many books on the topic, Fr. John J. Pasquini, Light, Happiness and Peace: Journeying Through Tradit … [Read more...]

Who Am I to Judge?

We have all become quite familiar with those words of Pope Francis, quoted two years ago during an interview on his return flight from World Youth Day in Brazil: “Who am I to judge?”[1. w2. … [Read more...]

On the Ordination of Women and the Priesthood of Christ

In the past half century, discussion about women priests in the Christian Churches has intensified. Most Churches, in particular, the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches, have held firm to the traditional view that only males … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

Question: Could Jesus perform miracles of his own accord? Did he not empty himself and rely on the Father as we do by faith? We are to have faith to move mountains. What better way to make the point than Jesus praying in thanksgiving before … [Read more...]

Homilies for November 2015

All Saints Solemnity—November 1, 2014 Readings: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/110115.cfm The Church Honors Her Exemplary Saints Today is the Solemnity of All Saints, the great holy day on which the Church praises God by honoring a … [Read more...]

Love and Responsibility: Required Reading for the Synod on the Family

Thanks to the Synod on the Family, the Catholic Church is now engaged in an intense discussion on sexual morality and married life. Yet if one listens carefully to the debates and polemics, it becomes evident that there is immense confusion … [Read more...]