The ambiance, the setting in which the human person lives, the “waters” in which we swim, is our “environment.” It represents the totality in which the human person lives, relates, and interacts. More than that, for the believer in a transce … [Read more...]
A Sure Way to Save the Church
Developing the Doctrine on the Eucharist
Part I – Jesus Christ Seems to Be Just a Memory It’s been centuries since there has been such open opposition between cardinals and bishops as there is today over Pope Francis’s perplexing Amoris Laetitia, which has spawned so much discord … [Read more...]
The Eucharistic Christology of Pope Benedict XVI
In Commemorationem Christi
Christ is truly present among us in the Eucharist. His presence is not static. It is a dynamic presence that grasps us, to make us his own, to make us assimilate him. Christ draws us to himself, he makes us come out of ourselves to make us … [Read more...]
A God with Skin
Recapturing the Incarnational Nature of the Sacraments
And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. (Jn 1:14) Since her beginning, the Catholic Church has been an incarnational institution, a B … [Read more...]
Finding Christ in the Beggar, Finding Christ in the Chalice
If you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the church door, you will not find Him in the chalice. – St. John Chrysostom.[1. Attributed to St. John Chrysostom, this may be a short paraphrase of Homily 50.4 on the Gospel of Matthew.] The m … [Read more...]
Fallen from Our First Love
“Could you not watch with Me for one hour?… Keep watch and pray” (Matthew 26:40-41) There are many sources of evil plaguing our society. However, we as a Church must be reinvigorated by the consoling certainty of God’s Word, especially wh … [Read more...]
The Gift and Rights of Being Conceived, Part 2
Even if, as we have seen in Part I of this essay, there are unresolved questions concerning the definition of the moment of conception, an irreversible moment involving the action of God, each one of us is nevertheless evidence of an actual … [Read more...]
Questions Answered
Question: When we do not have enough consecrated bread for Holy Communion is it permitted to dip unconsecrated bread into consecrated wine? Does the Council of Trent give special permission in this regard? Answer: I am constantly amazed … [Read more...]
Questions Answered
Question: Jesus says: “Judge not.” (Mt. 7:1) When are we allowed to judge? Answer: The issue of judgement is an important moral problem. Judgement is an act of the virtue of justice. Since justice involves establishing equity between one … [Read more...]
Questions Answered
Question: It is my impression that when we celebrate the Eucharist in my diocese at community Mass, Eucharistic Prayer 2 predominates. What might underlie this preference? What merit is there to criticisms about the historicity, and … [Read more...]
Questions Answered
Question: A fine layman friend of mine was attending a class at a Catholic college taught by a priest who was insisting that Christ’s acquired knowledge was defective, citing Mk 2:26, when Our Lord cited that David ate the loaves of o … [Read more...]
Heaven on Earth
The Liturgical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI
“In the earthly liturgy we take part in a foretaste of the heavenly liturgy….” —Sacrosanctum Concilium 8 These words form the heart of Pope Benedict XVI’s theology of the liturgy. Pope Benedict XVI professed his understanding of the Sacred … [Read more...]
The Significance of the Eucharist in the Apparitions at Fatima
Introduction. One hundred years ago in May of 1917, Our Lady began a series of apparitions to three Portuguese children named Lucia Santos, Francisco Marto, and Jacinta Marto in the village of Fatima. In the very first apparition, Mary … [Read more...]
Original Standing
It is easy for anyone who takes religion seriously to become superstitious. Who has not thought before that his prayer is more or less powerful when he prays in a certain spot, or lets only the right words leave his lips? While most people … [Read more...]
Encountering Christ’s Love in the Sacraments
In every way, the sacraments are about God’s love, fully revealed in Jesus Christ. In them, Jesus makes Himself present as the one who loves us “to the end” (Jn 13:1). In each Sacrament, He says: “I love you; I have given my life for you (Jn … [Read more...]
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