Do not model your behavior on the contemporary world, but let the renewing of your minds transform you, so that you may discern for yourselves what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and mature. (Romans 12:2)[1. As rendered in t … [Read more...]
Magazine
Contemporary Music in Church?
The church is the domain of the sacred, not the home for an adapted, accommodated worldliness.
March 25, 2009 by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski
The Meaning of Christian Joy
JOY: THE SPIRIT’S GIGANTIC SECRET BEHIND THE CHURCH’S SURVIVAL By Father John T. Catoir (Alba House, Society of St. Paul, 2187 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, N.Y.10314, 2006; 1-800-343-2522), 190 pp. PB. $14.95.
March 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
This is a simple but substantive book on the full meaning and rich sources of Christian joy, “the gigantic secret” that G. K. Chesterton discovered as the essence of Christianity. It recovers an aspect of the Church’s teaching that church fa … [Read more...]
New Help for Canonists
EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY ON THE CODE OF CANON LAW: Prepared under the Faculty of Canon Law, University of Navarre. English edition edited by Ernest Caparros (Wilson & Lafleur / Midwest Theological Forum, 2004). Five volumes bound as eight, approximately 9,000 pages. List price US $1,200.00. Purchase Online.
March 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
More than twenty years have passed since the promulgation of the 1983 Code, hardly more than the blink of an eye in terms of Church history but an entire generation in terms of human lives, especially in terms of their education. Throughout … [Read more...]
The Year of St. Paul
Editorial, March 2009
March 1, 2009 by Fr. Kenneth Baker, SJ
The greatest missionary in the history of the Church was the convert Saul of Tarsus who, by the grace of God, was changed from a persecutor of Jesus and his Church to the Apostle to the Gentiles. He was born of Jewish parents in Tarsus, … [Read more...]
First Millennium Petrine ministry
The teachings of the Fathers show that the Church has always affirmed the primacy and supremacy of the bishop of Rome.
March 1, 2009 by Joseph F. Previtali
As I followed on television the pastoral visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States in April 2008, I was reminded of an observation made by a friend of mine during our vacation together the previous Christmas. My friend, marveling at … [Read more...]
True freedom is interior
Editorial, February 2009
February 1, 2009 by Fr. Kenneth Baker, SJ
Freedom is what makes man to be man. Freedom is what distinguishes man from the rest of visible reality—sun, moon, stars, elements, plants and animals. On the natural level, freedom is man’s greatest gift or quality. What is freedom? Fre … [Read more...]
Ravenna and the Roman primacy
How is it that no other bishop but the Roman bishop ever claimed a universal primacy in the Church?
February 1, 2009 by Msgr. Daniel S. Hamilton
After two decades of modest progress, the Joint International Catholic-Orthodox Theological Commission, meeting in Ravenna, Italy, October 8-14, 2007, issued a study document on ecclesial communion, conciliarity and authority[1. … [Read more...]
The Mystery of Faith
Editorial, January 2009
January 1, 2009 by Fr. Kenneth Baker, SJ
The text of the Roman Missal at the consecration of the wine refers to it as “the Mystery of Faith” (Myssterium Fidei). It is a mystery of faith because wonderful, miraculous things take place during the celebration that have eternal eff … [Read more...]
Reading Genesis with Cardinal Ratzinger
The author answers Catholic creationists by arguing that contemporary exegetes have sufficient reason to go beyond a literalist reading of Genesis.
January 1, 2009 by Rev. Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, OP
How is a Catholic supposed to read the first chapter of Genesis that details the six days of creation? In a lecture entitled, “Restoration of Traditional Catholic Theology on Origins,” given at the First International Catholic Symposium on C … [Read more...]
The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey
Pastors across the country know that large numbers of individuals who were baptized Catholic have left the Catholic Church.
January 1, 2009 by Rev. Joseph A. Sirba
From May 8 to August 13, 2007, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life surveyed over 35,000 adults in an effort to learn more about current religious beliefs and practices within the United States. The first report on survey findings, … [Read more...]
Priests and the Importance of Fatherhood
Priests are not just "hosts" to the parish community; they are really fathers and consequently the heads of their parish families.
December 1, 2008 by Prof. Paul C. Vitz
Many thoughtful people today recognize that the United States—and indeed much of Western society—is in a cultural crisis. It takes little reflection to note that this crisis is centered in the family. The increase in divorce, the decrease in … [Read more...]
The Magisterium: A Precious Gift
Without an authority able to teach divine truth unerringly, we could never be sure we correctly understood divine revelation.
November 1, 2008 by John Young
The Magisterium is one of God’s greatest gifts to his Church. For without an authority able to teach divine truth unerringly, we could never be sure we correctly understood divine revelation. History confirms this, showing the variety of i … [Read more...]
Challenges to Preaching Paul
St. Paul is a role model for the preacher because he exemplified faith, passion and utility in his letters.
July 1, 2008 by Michael Hull
Preaching Paul is no mean feat. The Pauline literature in the Lectionary includes the thirteen disparate letters bearing Paul’s name, as well as Hebrews.[1. Since the Vatican’s Latin Vulgate continues to list Hebrews under the heading of Pau … [Read more...]
Calumny in the Blogosphere
Calumnious blogging is a serious offense against God's law. Those who engage in it are jeopardizing their immortal souls and the souls of others.
June 1, 2008 by Rev. Michael P. Orsi
Calumny is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary (1992) as a “false statement maliciously made to injure another’s reputation.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) places calumny as a serious sin under the Eighth Commandment, “ … [Read more...]
Pastoral Interpretation in Pope Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth
As a pastoral rather than an academic work, Jesus of Nazareth preaches a Gospel that is centered in the person of Christ.
May 1, 2008 by Dr. Peter S. Williamson
Much has been said both in praise and in criticism of Benedict XVI’s Jesus of Nazareth. Fergus Kerr, a theologian writing in the The Tablet, calls it Joseph Ratzinger’s best book. Peter Steinfels, a journalist writing in Commonweal, finds it … [Read more...]
Recent Comments