Is Moral Truth Always Objective? Question: Can a Catholic accept proportionalism in morals? Hans Kung and many other theologians did in the 70s and 80s. There are still moralists who think it is true. Answer: There has been a concerted a … [Read more...]
Magazine
Philomena, St. John Vianney, and a Blueprint for Converting Parishes
February 12, 2021 by Tate Hilgefort
Last fall my wife was five months pregnant with our 11th child. We had already named her Philomena after the great wonder worker and favorite saint of St. John Vianney. This is when we found out that Philomena had a heart defect that would … [Read more...]
Making Parishes Home Sweet Home
Parish-Based Homeschool Cooperatives for the Next Academic Year and Beyond
February 12, 2021 by Fr. Anthony Stoeppel
John Kingdon proposed that public policy change comes about when the three streams of problems, policies, and politics come together at the same time.[1. J.W. Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policies (Boston: Little, Brown and … [Read more...]
“The Canon of Issues”: When Catholics Disagree With the Church
February 12, 2021 by Dr. Stuart Squires
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI named the long list of questions that we Catholics confront in contemporary society the “canon of issues.” This canon includes women’s ordination, contraception, celibacy of priests, and remarriage of divorced pers … [Read more...]
Snapdragon: Newman and Distance Education
February 12, 2021 by Gabriel X. Martinez
If you know your John Henry Newman, you know that snapdragon, that beautiful flower capable of growing on stone walls, was the emblem of his stay at Oriel College (he would see the blooms from his window every spring and wrote a poem about … [Read more...]
Review Essay: Hahn and McGinley’s Future of Civilization
February 12, 2021 by Eduardo Echeverria
In their recent book, It is Right and Just: Why the Future of Civilization Depends on True Religion, Scott Hahn and Brandon McGinley develop a Catholic world and life view, undergirded by an ultimate framework consisting of the truths of … [Read more...]
Discerning the Gift of Priestly Celibacy in Relation to Marriage
February 12, 2021 by Dr. Carlos L. Gamundi
Every candidate to the priesthood, even those in the Oriental rites where celibacy is optional, must discern whether God is offering them the “precious gift of priestly celibacy.”[1. Presbyterorum Ordinis, 16.] In the Latin rite, priesthood … [Read more...]
On Live Streaming the Mass
February 12, 2021 by Fr. Christopher Seith
In an article written in 1953, the German philosopher Josef Pieper raises an alarm about the TV-transmission of the Mass that, at first, sounds hyperbolic and out of date. He seems horrified at what, for us, has become the norm. He argues … [Read more...]
Homilies for February 2021
January 28, 2021 by Fr. Edward Linton
For February 7, February 14, Ash Wednesday, February 21, February 28 February 7, 2021 – Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Readings: Jb 7:1-4, 6-7 • Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 • 1 Cor 9: 16-19 • Mk 1:29-39 bible. … [Read more...]
Preaching Politics from the Pulpit
January 28, 2021 by Fr. Thomas F. Dailey
With the 2020 electoral campaign now behind us, candidates in close races strategize about how to garner votes among religious believers in two and four years. So, too, religious leaders will once again have to brace for political battle in … [Read more...]
The Significance of Signs and Symbols
January 28, 2021 by Carolyn Humphreys, OCDS
Our Catholic faith is replete with beautiful signs and symbols that remind us of our heritage, teachings and traditions as followers of Jesus. A Christian sign is something that gives us direction by pointing beyond itself to a spiritual … [Read more...]
Beyond the Realms of Justice
January 28, 2021 by Brent Withers
The purpose of this essay is to explore what light the deeper truths of our faith can shed on the criminal justice system. The light of faith illuminates reality so we can see all things through the life, death, and resurrection of our … [Read more...]
The Cohabitation Dilemma
January 28, 2021 by Rev. Thomas G. Morrow
The number of couples who choose to live together without marriage has risen dramatically in the past fifty years, from near zero to 60%. For Catholics the percentage is almost 50%. One subject regarding this which has received little … [Read more...]
Toward a Causal Account of Priestly Formation
A Reading of Pastores Dabo Vobis
January 28, 2021 by Matthew Walz
Pope St. John Paul II published Pastores dabo vobis on March 25, 1992, when the Church celebrates the Annunciation, the initial moment of the Incarnation. No doubt he chose this date deliberately — and fittingly so. For when a man enters s … [Read more...]
Book Reviews – February 2021
January 28, 2021 by Book Reviews
The Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward. By Ralph Martin. Reviewed by Eduardo Echeverria. (skip to review) Sex and the Spiritual Life: Reclaiming Integrity, Wholeness, and Intimacy. By Patricia Cooney Hathaway, ed. Reviewed by Christopher … [Read more...]
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