Archives for March 2019

Clericalism

Betrayal of the Body of Christ

Why Is Clericalism so Bad? The most lethal consequence of clericalism, I believe, is the deadening it inflicts upon the Body of Christ, His Church ordered and intended for maturity — for holy, fervent, fruitful and glorious life! The c … [Read more...]

Patristic Ressourcement in the Theology of the Priesthood

I. Introduction Recent years have seen a significant shift in how the people of God — both priests and lay faithful — have come to view the sacrament of holy orders, as well as the baptismal character of the common priesthood of all Chr … [Read more...]

Mary the Perfected Witness

Achieving Our Saintly Destiny in a World of Choices

On December 21, Pope Francis spoke about Our Lady and Saint Joseph in the Nativity scene being full of holiness and joy. He continued: “And you will tell me: of course! They are Our Lady and Saint Joseph! Yes, but let us not think it was e … [Read more...]

“How Shall This Be?”

A Call to Humility for a New Pentecost

Consider, O Brethren, this great marvel. God is on high: reach up to Him, and He flees from you; Lower yourself before Him, and He comes down to you. — St. Augustine There has been an almost-constant stream of news concerning sexual a … [Read more...]

Requirements of Conjugal Love

Blueprinting for a Lasting Marriage in Christ

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the Sacrament of Matrimony as a “matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life . . . ordered toward the good of the spouses and t … [Read more...]

Entertaining Solitude

Recapturing Leisure by Contextualizing Entertainment Technology

It isn’t good for man to be alone. So is it good for man to be entertained alone? In the past century, the West has witnessed the proliferation of entertainment technology. Many readers of this article will have consumed some of it w … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – March 2019

Servant of All: Status, Ambition, and the Way of Jesus By Craig C. Hill. Reviewed by Matthew K. Minerd, PhD. (skip to review) The Priestly Blessing: Rediscovering the Gift By Stephen J. Rossetti. Reviewed by Fr. John Cush. (skip to … [Read more...]

What does the Doctor Diagnose? Listening to the Church Doctor

St. Catherine of Siena on Perennial Principles for Our Attitudes towards Priests

Introductory Note: The author is restricting this essay to attitudes toward priests in light of the Philadelphia Grand Jury report. She extends wholehearted sympathy for the shattered lives affected by the actions of immoral priests. By … [Read more...]

Does the Text of Amoris Laetitia Allow Communion for the Divorced and Remarried?

Part 2

Previously, I have presented the positive argumentation that the text of Amoris Laetitia does not allow Communion for the divorced and remarried who intend to continue sexual relations.[1. Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC, “Does the Text of A … [Read more...]

Pope Francis and the Purification of Heroic Desire

It is the duty of pastoral homiletics to call the faithful to heroic virtue. Virtue itself, to be sure, is a core fruit of receiving the Gospel, but, at times, we need to hear the call to heroic virtue; that is, we must know that the next … [Read more...]

Christian Environmental Love

The Eucharist as Lamb and Predator-Prey Transformation

The ambiance, the setting in which the human person lives, the “waters” in which we swim, is our “environment.” It represents the totality in which the human person lives, relates, and interacts. More than that, for the believer in a transce … [Read more...]

Catherine O’Donnell’s Elizabeth Seton: American Saint

A Review Essay

O’Donnell, Catherine. Elizabeth Seton: American Saint. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2018. 508 pages. As the only scholarly biography of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton to be published since her canonization in 1975, Christine O’Donnell’s w … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – March 2019

What Is the Institutional Church? Question: I hear a lot about the “institutional church.” It seems to be a phrase trotted out by people who want to see the moral law changed or to question authority. What is the “institutional churc … [Read more...]

Homilies for March 2019

For Mar. 3, Mar. 10, Mar. 17, Mar. 24, and Mar. 31. 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time – March 3, 2019    Readings: Sir 27:4–7 • Ps 92:2–3, 13–16 • 1 Cor 15:54–58 • Lk 6:39–45    usccb.org/bible/readings/030319.cfm The Discipline of the Disci … [Read more...]