For All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day, the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica (Nov. 9), November 16 (Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time), the Solemnity of Christ the King, Thanksgiving Day, and the First Sunday of Adv … [Read more...]
Magazine
The Shaping of a Priest
50 Years of Seminary Formation and Ecclesial Identity
As a Catholic priest ordained in 1998, and as a professor of Dogmatic Theology and seminary director of admissions and recruitment (as well as having served as academic dean and assistant vice-rector in another seminary), I have had the … [Read more...]
Can the Creed Be Proven from Scripture?
Implications for Ecumenical Dialogue
Last year at the annual Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, a motion was put forward to add the Nicene Creed to its doctrinal statement.[1. Mark Wingfield, “Motion will ask SBC to add … [Read more...]
Truth in Dying: The Perfection of the Virtues in a Dying Christian
This article presents a Thomistic portrait of how the virtues of the Christian life come to their full flowering in the person who is dying in the state of grace. Please note that the article is not only concerned with the infused virtues, … [Read more...]
“As We Await the Redemption of Our Body”
Part 1: Status Quaestionis Reflecting on inordinate desire and making a distinction between desire for things that are pleasurable to the senses (bodily) and desire for things pleasurable to the psyche, such as ambition or avarice, it is … [Read more...]
Loving through Illness: Mental Illness and the Beauty of Suffering
Why do some speak so strongly against mental illness and those who suffer with it? With mental illness as common today as many other illnesses, one questions why there is a negative stigma connected to illnesses of the mind. We, as human … [Read more...]
Questions Answered – November 2025
How Did Jesus Experience Temptation? Question One: Dear Father Cush, what is the Catholic Church’s understanding of the Temptations of Jesus in the Desert? If Jesus is sinless, how is he tempted? Answer: The Temptations of Jesus in the … [Read more...]
Book Reviews – November 2025
Jérôme Lejeune: A Man of Science and Conscience. By Aude Dugast. Reviewed by Fr. John J. Conley, SJ. (skip to review) An American Little Flower: Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich. By GinaMarie Tennant. Reviewed by Aaron Martin. (skip to r … [Read more...]
Homilies for October 2025
For October 5, October 12, October 19, and October 26 Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time – October 5, 2025 Readings: Habakkuk 1:2–3; 2:2–4 • Psalm 95:1–2, 6–7, 8–9 • 2 Timothy 1:6–8, 13–14 • Luke 17:5–10 bible.usccb. … [Read more...]
Homiletic Questions
The Church has called its clergy to preach the Word for centuries. It did not, however, lay down in a definitive way just how to do that. Preaching adapted, as it should, to the needs of the time. Ways of preaching in the patristic, … [Read more...]
The Triumph of Our Lady
The Christians were outnumbered; the odds were stacked against them. The sea was speckled with great ships and gleaming swords. The Ottoman armada had assembled, come to conquer the Christian world. It was around this time of year, some 450 … [Read more...]
The Glorified and Ascended Body of Christ in St. Ignatius of Antioch
Foundation for Deification and Union with the Trinity Through the Eucharist
St. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35–107 AD),[1. Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd ed. (2005), “Ignatius of Antioch.”] an early Christian bishop, theologian, and martyr, was born in Syria and became the third bishop of Antioch. Ignatius often refers t … [Read more...]
The Unseen Doorkeeper
There is a common joke about the struggle of kids growing up whose birthday falls in December and is “so close to Christmas . . . that must be hard.” Is there a similar sentiment for Saints whose feast day falls so close to All Saints Day … [Read more...]
Grace at Work
“There was a man who lived on the Great Blasker island off the coast of Kerry, Ireland, who worked from dawn to dusk every day of the week. He owned a small flock of sheep. He was short of help, and his family being young, he had no time to … [Read more...]
Questions Answered – October 2025
Unbaptized Infants in Catholic Theology Question One: Dear Father Cush, I was told that the Catholic Church no longer believes in Limbo since the Second Vatican Council. Is this the case? Answer: The concept of Limbo has been historically … [Read more...]
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