The Providence of God and the Cross of Christ

When one examines the mystery of divine providence, and its relation to the cross of Christ from the viewpoint of wisdom, which is knowledge of divine things, he sees God’s wonderful plan of redemption for his creatures. Crucifixion is t … [Read more...]

What Color Is Your Parachute?

I was recently reading through a blog honoring Abortion Provider Appreciation Day ... The organizers describe their rationale for such a dark and strange observance as being a response against crisis pregnancy centers... “The most st … [Read more...]

Dietrich von Hildebrand on the Natural Ends of Religion

The ultimate aim of all authentic religious practice, von Hildebrand always insists, is the creation of a truly supernatural life in the soul of the believer, in order to bring him to a final end with God that fallen nature can never hope … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

Has the church changed her teaching on condom use to prevent the spread of HIV?  Can you tell me the origin of celibacy as a requirement for the priesthood  and why the Western Church puts so much emphasis on it? Question:  In the d … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

Is Baptism by water "Baptism in the Holy Spirit?" Can medical research on incapacitated patients ever be justified? Is Baptism by water "Baptism in the Holy Spirit?" Question:  I have often heard the phrase “Baptism in the Holy Sp … [Read more...]

The Catholic Identity of a Retirement Community

Because a retirement community has a more or less captive audience, it has to strike a delicate balance between the duty to witness explicitly and fully to Christ; and the respect for the freedom, autonomy, and self-determination of the … [Read more...]

Toward a Gospel witness: Confronting child abuse

The Church’s response to this evolving crisis has been, at the very least, disturbing.

We live in a culture that celebrates progressive liberation from sexual taboos and constraints. The sexual transgressions of days gone by have been rapidly refashioned into the conventional sexualities of today; even more risqué sexualities … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

March 2011

Priest altering the text of the Mass Question: I am a priest and very troubled by some of the mistranslations in the English edition of the Sacramentary, for example, “When he humbled himself to come among us as a man” in Advent Preface I. … [Read more...]

Physician-assisted suicide: Can the culture of life and love prevail?

With faith and hope in Jesus and a firm resolve, it is not inevitable that PAS and euthanasia proponents will win the day.

The daunting specter of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) continues to loom in our country and throughout the world.[1. International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, Update, Year 2009 Vol. 23, No.2. All statistics are derived … [Read more...]

St. Thomas and Chesterton on law, human and divine

Both St. Thomas and Chesterton were aware that human laws do not always conform to the natural and eternal laws.

It was not Zeus who gave the order, And Justice living with the dead below Has never given men a law like this. Nor did I think that your pronouncements were So powerful that mere man could override The unwritten and unfailing laws of … [Read more...]

Development of Moral Teaching

A CHURCH THAT CAN AND CANNOT CHANGE: The Development of Catholic Moral Teaching, by John T. Noonan, Jr., University of Notre Dame Press, 2005, cloth, 297 pages, HB $30.00

This is an important book. It argues strongly that, just as the Church revised dogmatic teaching over the years as it saw authentic development in some dogmas, so it has revised its practice (and thus its teaching) over the years as it has … [Read more...]

Humanae Vitae at Forty

Humanae Vitae not only contains the truth about the right ordering of the marital act but it has much to teach us about the right ordering of society.

Moral issues are always being influenced by cultural patterns. And the Church’s official teaching is always being understood through cultural filters. Contraception and Humanae Vitae are no exceptions to these two general maxims. In this a … [Read more...]

Curran’s Attack on John Paul II Rebutted

Dr. May shows how utterly false are four major criticisms Charles Curran levels against the moral thought of John Paul II.

Shortly prior to Pope John Paul II’s death on April 2, 2005 Georgetown University Press published Charles E. Curran’s book entitled The Moral Theology of Pope John Paul II. [1. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2005, xii+262 pag … [Read more...]

NFP: A Defense and an Explanation

What are the conditions according to which one may use NFP without offending Almighty God?

When is it licit for a married couple to use natural family planning (NFP)? What are the conditions according to which we may use this method without offending Almighty God? This will be my subject in this article both with reference to … [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.

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...]