Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s use of the image of nuclear fission—...in a positive sense, in order to explain the Eucharistic mystery—is contemporary and striking, and apt to convey the quiet, but immense, power of the Mass. The Sacra … [Read more...]
Eschatology and Eucharistic Adoration
May 23, 2014 by Dr. Christopher J. Malloy
...certain “liturgists” and “theologians” ... stamp (Eucharistic Adoration) as mere “private devotion.” In fact, in its complete form, from exposition to benediction, it is a liturgical event. ...it has a long, and shall enjoy an everlasting … [Read more...]
Benedict XVI on Freedom in Obedience to the Truth: A Key for the New Evangelization
May 12, 2014 by Dr. Matthew J. Ramage, PhD
... the more fundamental task ... is to form human hearts, beginning with those who have already been evangelized and need to be “newly evangelized,” those who know something already, but are not living it; those who are showing up in the pe … [Read more...]
Faith Needs Philosophy: A Primer on the Relationship between Reason and Revelation
April 23, 2014 by Brian Jones
The great philosophers that preceded the Judeo-Christian Revelation demonstrated many of the truths about God and the faith that are affirmed in Scripture, and are what St. Thomas calls the preambles of faith. I recently had a brief … [Read more...]
Prayer as Turning Point Toward Christ
April 9, 2014 by Carolyn Humphreys, OCDS
The good news is that even though we sin, God loves us and wants us to return to him. With God’s grace, bad habits can be unlearned. Ecclesia semper reformanda: The Church forever in need of reform. Because we are the Church, we are the o … [Read more...]
Searching for Clarity in Vocational Discernment
March 24, 2014 by Fr. Bryce Sibley
... The call of the Lord usually comes to us in a more subtle and indirect manner ... left up to us, with the assistance of divine grace, to discern whether we are being called to the priesthood or consecrated life. Christ calling Peter … [Read more...]
What Happened to Catholic Ireland: An Irish-American Historian’s View
March 6, 2014 by John P. McCarthy, PhD
Just like the Church in the United States, the Irish Church is enduring hard times. However, what makes it so upsetting in Ireland ... is the disappearance of what had been a Catholic society. When first coming to Ireland more than a … [Read more...]
“Where your synthesis is, there lies your heart.” An Early Look at Pope Francis’ Vision for the Church
February 21, 2014 by Fr. Joseph A. Tetlow, SJ
Jesus Christ is the center – the driving source – of the entire Exhortation. Those who have been called, and have accepted Christ are sent into their particular life’s world to spread his name, and to do it joyfully. The sentence: “Wher … [Read more...]
A Liberationist Pope
February 7, 2014 by Dr. Michel Therrien, STD
Read carefully: We should see in this critique (by Pope Francis), not an embrace of socialism, or a condemnation of the market economy, but a call to adopt a different ethic for the marketplace. Pope Francis is a Jesuit, a prelate from … [Read more...]
The Papacy: The Person Versus The Office
February 3, 2014 by David Vincent Meconi
What draws the secular media to the Vatican ... (for now) is the man who is able to translate these truths into action, and to proclaim our doctrine with personal conviction. It is one of those few moments forever emblazoned on my mind … [Read more...]
Where is Prayer for Christian Unity in Our Parishes?
January 19, 2014 by James Likoudis
Every post-conciliar Pope has emphasized, with Vatican II, that ecumenism is a necessary aspect of the Church's mission, and one involving the effort of all the faithful, clergy, and laity alike. It was once quite common for many C … [Read more...]
The Person of Jesus Unites Himself with the Unborn
January 18, 2014 by Robert J. Boackle, PhD
I began to meditate on the awesome truth that Almighty God, became fully human, feeding on nutrients and oxygen within the blood of his Blessed Mother, as is every human fetus fed by his or her natural mother. ...Jesus teaches, by his … [Read more...]
“It Belongs to the Wise Man to Order”: James Schall on Politics and Revelation
December 11, 2013 by Brian Jones
The wise man not only has the right order in his mind, but in his soul as well; he not only knows how he ought to live, but, more importantly, he does, in fact, live this way, in accord with what he is. Fr. Norris Clarke, the renowned … [Read more...]
The Divine Gift of “Shalom” in a Good Death
November 11, 2013 by Dr. Marc Tumeinski
The truth, reality, gift, and desire of shalom make up a thread running through all of Scripture, throughout our whole Christian faith life, through the Mass, and through all of the sacraments. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep … [Read more...]
1 Kings 13 and the Child of Isaiah 7: Precedence and the Numerology of Matthew’s Gospel
...(Pope Benedict's) last book, and his announcement of his retirement, were an affirmation of the Virgin Mary’s predestination, and her child’s virginal conception at the Annunciation. ... Pope Benedict had great trust in the continued mate … [Read more...]