“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Christ thus established love as the essential identifying mark of those who belong to Him. Love reveals the Christian; conversely, if we do … [Read more...]
Magazine
Can We Be Recognized As Christians?
Practicing Love in Contentious Times
Questions Answered – October 2022
Church Teaching and the Theological Ethics of Life Question: There has been much talk about the Church changing her teaching on Humanae Vitae. This apparently is due to a recent document from the Pontifical Academy of Life: Theological … [Read more...]
Homilies for September 2022
For September 4, September 11, September 18, and September 25 Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time – September 4, 2022 Readings: Wis 9:13–18b • Ps 90:3–4, 5–6, 12–13, 14 and 17 • Phmn 9–10, 12–17 • Lk 14:25–33 bible.usccb.org/bible/r … [Read more...]
The New Staff of HPR
Taking effect September 1, 2022, a new team will assume leadership of Homiletic & Pastoral Review. HPR welcomes Rev. John P. Cush, STD, as Editor-in-Chief, with Sister Mary Micaela Hoffman, RSM, S.S.L., as Associate Editor. At the same … [Read more...]
Response to Peter Kwasniewski
On the solemnity of Corpus Christi this year (June 19), the U.S. bishops launched the “Eucharistic Revival,” a three-year endeavor aimed at rekindling Eucharistic faith and devotion among Catholics. Almost simultaneously, on June 29, Pope Fr … [Read more...]
The Importance of Recognizing Satan’s Existence
This essay is a sequel to my article, “Disbelief in the Existence of Personified Evil” in the August 2020 issue of this same publication. In that article, I explained Satan’s identity, his motives, his ways, the times in which he attacks, an … [Read more...]
Questions Answered – September 2022
Truly Believing in the Real Presence Question: I am 73 and a lifelong Catholic. I struggle with the doctrine of the real presence. I say this partially because if Catholics really believed this, the churches and adoration chapels would be … [Read more...]
Book Reviews – September 2022
The Light Entrusted to You: Keeping the Flame of Faith Alive. By John R. Wood. Reviewed by Aaron Martin. (skip to review) The Education of a Historian: A Strange and Wonderful Story. By John W. O’Malley. Reviewed by Christopher Siuzdak. ( … [Read more...]
Homilies for August 2022
For August 7, August 14, August 15 (Solemnity of the Assumption), August 21, and August 28 Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – August 7, 2022 Readings: Wis 18:6–9 • Ps 33:1, 12, 18–19, 20–22 • Heb 11:1–2, 8–19 or Heb 11:1–2, 8–12 • Lk 1 … [Read more...]
Overview of Desiderio Desideravi
On the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29, 2022, Pope Francis promulgated the Apostolic Letter Desiderio Desideravi.[1. Francis, Desiderio Desideravi (Rome: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2022), … [Read more...]
The Universal Call to Evangelization
Nothing Can Disqualify You From This Urgent Mission
As we do our work at Saint Paul Street Evangelization, there are so many different evangelization-related topics to address. What exactly is evangelization? Why do we need to do it? How do we evangelize effectively? What is the Kerygma and … [Read more...]
St. John Vianney and the Meaning of the Priesthood
Homily preached by the Reverend Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Ph.D., S.T.D., at Holy Innocents Church in New York City for the memorial of St. John Vianney (4/8 August 202/OF & EF calendars). In this month of August, we celebrate the … [Read more...]
Prejudices Against Mercy: Is Mercy a Relaxation of Justice?
An Inquiry Guided by St. Thomas Aquinas
Contemporary Concerns about Mercy The fact that the Jubilee Year of Mercy called for by Pope Francis in 2016–17 coincided with mass encounters of Middle Eastern refugees in Europe, challenging immigration policy disputes in the United S … [Read more...]















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