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May 19, 2013 Pentecost Sunday - Mass during the Day   Reading 1 Acts 2:1-11 When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,they were all in one place together.And suddenly there came from the skya noise like a strong driving wind,and it filled the entire house in which they were.Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,which parted and came to rest on each one of them.And they were all filled with the Holy Spiritand began to speak in different tongues,as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heavenstaying in Jerusalem.At...

May 19, 2013 Pentecost Sunday - At the Vigil Mass   Reading 1 Gn 11:1-9 The whole world spoke the same language, using the same words.While the people were migrating in the east,they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.They said to one another,“Come, let us mold bricks and harden them with fire.”They used bricks for stone, and bitumen for mortar.Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a cityand a tower with its top in the sky,and so make a name for ourselves;otherwise we shall be scattered all over the earth.” The LORD...

New York City, N.Y., May 18, 2013 / 06:02 am (CNA).- Bill Donohue of the Catholic League said he was “stunned” that the IRS investigated his organization in 2008, charging that the Democrat-leaning group Catholics United filed the complaint and used it to argue that CNN should drop him as a commentator. “This was a fishing expedition meant to intimidate me and create a chilling effect on my freedom of speech,” Donohue said. “I still couldn’t believe that a couple of weeks after the election, I was being asked to spend my entire Thanksgiving trying to defend the Catholic League...

Featured Term (selected at random):REVIVFICATION Belief that all the sacraments, except the Eucharist and penance, confer the grace originally available, once the obstacle preventing the grace is removed. It is assumed that a person wants to receive the sacrament but lackes the proper dispositions, mainly the state of grace for sacraments of the living and adequate contrition for sacraments of the dead. When one attains the state of grace or arrives at sufficient contrition, the grace of the sacraments is "revived" without repeating the sacramental rite. The validity of baptism, confirmation, matrimony, and orders is always certain in these circumstances....

The Christian must overcome the temptation to "interfere in the lives of others," was the exhortation of Pope Francis at Mass this morning at the Casa Santa Marta. The Pope also stressed that talk and envy do so much harm to the Christian community. "What is it to you?" Pope Francis begin his homily referring to a question Jesus posed to Peter when he had meddled in the life of the disciple John, "whom Jesus loved." Peter, the Pope pointed out, had "a dialogue of love" with the Lord, but then the dialogue "is diverted to another track," and he...

May 18, 2013   Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 28:16-20, 30-31 When he entered Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself,with the soldier who was guarding him. Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews.When they had gathered he said to them, “My brothers,although I had done nothing against our peopleor our ancestral customs,I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.After trying my case the Romans wanted to release me,because they found nothing against me deserving the death penalty.But when the Jews objected, I was...

IntroductionROY WENZL & TRAVIS HEYING What soldiers say Kapaun did is so heroic that it defies believability. Some people regard the meek man as one who will not put up a fight for anything but will let others run over him .... In fact from human experience we know that to accomplish anything good a person must make an effort; and making an effort is putting up a fight against the obstacles. - Father Emil Kapaun Emil Kapaun — priest, soldier and Korean War hero — is a rare man. He has been awarded the Medal of Honor, the...

My love for you and through you "IS" My Ordination . So take on my ordainment that My love through you endures for it is "this" commandment alone that "IS" the very Cornerstone that I speak of against which there is NO weapon but My love is never changing it does not whither or fade it does not wax or whane for I AM Eternal and it "IS" the I AM I speak of " I AM THAT I AM " ----> MY LOVE and MY LOVE you "MUST" BEcome . 1 Corinthians 13 If I [can] speak in the...

This week Minnesota became the twelfth state in the United States to redefine marriage. Jay Bakker, son of the televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, marked the occasion by offering “rainbow bread” for “communion” at the inaugural service of Revolution Church Minnesota on Sunday, May 12th. Bakker explained all were welcome to participate in the meal regardless of religious belief or lack thereof, and that “today we do this in remembrance of what Christ did and what folks who followed in Christ’s footsteps did, but also in the celebration of what’s happened here in the House and with what...

Russell Ford’s testimony is captivating, surprising, sobering, and, at times, rather humorous. The following interview is much longer than most CWR features, but we think readers will find his story, perspective, and insights both challenging and encouraging. Also, Russell's recent appearance on EWTN's "The Journey Home" can be viewed on the EWTN website. CWR: For those who might not be familiar with your background, let’s go back to the mid-1980s. Prior to going to prison, were you a Catholic? What were you doing prior to being imprisoned? Ford: No, I wasn’t a Catholic. I hunted bounty after I got...

Here’s a story about a poignant and prayerful work of mercy most people never hear about.Details: No one Mary Helen Wells knew was at her funeral.The physical sum of her 85 years filled a donated urn Monday afternoon, among 36 other donated urns full of unwanted remains. A kindly priest said prayers and stowed them in a crypt. A groundskeeper sealed it, and the mourners, gathered on principle, dispersed.In South Florida, hundreds die every year without a survivor to claim them. The causes vary: liver failure,dementia. One homeless man died in 2011 when an industrial oven he was helping someone...

The problem is not that we are sinners, but that we do not allow ourselves to be transformed by the encounter with Christ in love: this was the main focus of Pope Francis’ remarks at Mass on Friday morning in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae residence in the Vatican, which was attended by employees of the Vatican Museums. At the center of the homily was the day's Gospel reading, in which the Risen Jesus thrice asks Peter if Peter loves Him. “It is,” said Pope Francis, “a dialogue of love between the Lord and his disciple,” one that...

Many Vatican-watchers interpreted the election of Pope Francis as Rome’s counter-offensive against the rise of neo-Pentecostalism in the global South. Pentecostalism is the fastest growing sect in the Latin America, where a third of the world’s Catholics live, and is giving the established Roman Church a run for its money — so to speak. The latest figures show that the numbers of Pentecostals throughout Latin America has soared since 1970 — when they represented a mere 4 percent of the population — to nearly 30 percent. In Guatemala it is estimated that four in ten are Pentecostals. Reasons for the...

Caracas, Venezuela, May 16, 2013 / 12:16 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Reporter Macky Arenas of the Catholic Lay Report said the serious food shortage in Venezuela could lead to a lack of wine and hosts for the celebration of Mass. Arenas explained that the shortage in the country is due to “the lack of raw materials.” “This is not a country known for the production of wine, and the only national company has told the bishops it will not be able to meet demand,” she said in statements to CNA. Officials in Venezuela are warning that the situation will not improve...

May 17, 2013 Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 25:13b-21 King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesareaon a visit to Festus.Since they spent several days there,Festus referred Paul’s case to the king, saying,“There is a man here left in custody by Felix.When I was in Jerusalem the chief priests and the elders of the Jewsbrought charges against him and demanded his condemnation.I answered them that it was not Roman practiceto hand over an accused person before he has faced his accusersand had the opportunity to defend himself against their charge.So when they came together...

The Baltimore Catechism Revised Edition (1941) Part Three: The Sacraments and Prayer Prayer Lesson 37 from the Baltimore Cathechism475. What is prayer? Prayer is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God.Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens. (Lamentations 3:41)476. Why do we pray? We pray: to adore God, expressing to Him our love and loyalty; to thank Him for His favors; to obtain from Him the pardon of our sins and the remission of their punishment; to ask for graces and blessings for ourselves and others. Watch and pray,...

New York’s Timothy Cardinal Dolan warned Gov. Cuomo to be ready for a holy battle if he tries to strengthen state abortion-rights laws. (snip) Archbishop Dolan said the conviction Monday of Philadelphia abortion provider Dr. Kermit Gosnell on murder charges calls for laws that go the other way instead. “I am in a bit of consternation as to why in a time when there seems to be kind of a sobering up about these horrors of the unfettered access to abortion, why in New York we are talking about even expanding it further,” Dolan said. When asked how Cuomo could...

How truly pitiful it is to see women who should be dedicated to the Lord performing their own personal  farce. Here are two nuns who need a good ecclessial smack-down for undermining the faith and scandalizing the faithful: The cast of dissenters: Catholic Sister Elaine Hirschenberger from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is Executive Director of a secular organization called Woman's Space (sic) in Rockford IL.​ If you go to the Womanspace website it's filled with somewhat innocuous events and ambiguous statements. They are, of course, "empowering" women and changing the world "one woman at a time." But are they transforming...

A Priest for Forty HoursBy Thomas Peters This incredible story came to me first via family.St. Joseph Parish in Maumee, Ohio posted this note to their Facebook page on Wednesday (it has already been viewed and shared thousands of times since then): As many of you know, our seminarian Deacon Scott Carroll has been battling cancer for some time. Although Scott looked forward to joining his classmates for ordination on June 22, 2013, it became clear this week that an earlier ordination might be prudent.On Wednesday morning, Bishop Blair ordained Fr. Scott to the Order of Presbyter. The ordination...

This past week we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. (And, given my mention of Fatima, you may wonder why I have Our Lady of Guadalupe pictured here, but more on that in a moment). But as for Fatima, with all the emphasis on the magnificent teaching and prophetic fulfillment of that apparition, something that has always intrigued me is that she would appear of all places in a town called Fatima. Why Fatima, a town that recalls the daughter of Mohammed?Indeed, I have often heard that Muslims hold our Blessed Mother Mary in high regard. This reverence...

“We have started down the path of a disposable culture,” Pope Francis said in a May 16 address to four new ambassadors to the Holy See. In his remarks to the new envoys, the Pope spoke about injustice in the world economy, and especially in a socio-economic system in which “human beings themselves are nowadays considered as consumer goods which can be used and thrown away.” The Pope accepted the diplomatic credentials of Bolot Iskovich Otunbaev of Kyrgyzstan, Davis Shoul of Antigua, Jean-Paul Senninger of Luxemburg, and Lameck Nthekela of Botswana. He addressed them as a group, insisting that economic...

Milan (AsiaNews) - Some 1,700 years have passed since Emperor Constantine granted Christians the right to believe in God, yet "the persecution of Christians has not ceased;" thus, "the Church of Christ will never cease to generate martyrs" until God "enlightens everyone, so that they understand that peace, reconciliation, tolerance, meekness, and mercy can only have a positive effect on human society in general, especially in terms of deeds and words." Religious freedom and the journey of a divided Church " towards unity according to the Lord's command" are central to the thoughts Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I expressed this morning...

Featured Term (selected at random):INTELLECTUAL VISION Supernatural knowledge in which the mind receives an extraordinary grasp of some revealed truth without the aid of sensible impressions. Thus St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) wrote of his seeing "the humanity of Christ with the eyes of the soul." These visions take place either through ideas that are already acquired and that are then co-ordinated and interpreted by God, or through infused ideas, representing divine things, that are thus better perceived than a person would otherwise perceive them. At times the visions are obscure and their object is only dimly understood; at other times...

As we all know, in far too many cases in years past, priests were accused of sexual abuse by genuine victims—and these crimes were simply swept under the rug, by church officials who eschewed their God-given responsibility to take appropriate action. This is an established, ugly fact that is not up for debate! It’s true that there’s often more than one legitimate way for an ecclesiastical superior to deal with these problems; but doing nothing, preferring to ignore the issue in the hope that it will simply go away, never has been or will be an option, ever. Note that...

Saint Paul was the focus of Pope Francis’ homily at Mass Thursday morning, and in particular his talent at ‘being a nuisance’, at unsettling people who had grown too comfortable in their faith and imbuing within them that Apostolic zeal that is necessary for the Church to move forward. Emer McCarthy reports: Pope Francis said that Apostolic zeal, implies "an element of madness, but of spiritual madness, of healthy madness” and proclaiming Christ has its consequences, which can often result in persecution. Nonetheless, stated the Pope, we must not be ‘backseat Christians’ cozy in our comfort zones. Drawing inspiration from...

May 16, 2013   Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 22:30; 23:6-11 Wishing to determine the truthabout why Paul was being accused by the Jews,the commander freed himand ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to convene.Then he brought Paul down and made him stand before them. Paul was aware that some were Sadducees and some Pharisees,so he called out before the Sanhedrin,“My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees;I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead.”When he said this,a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and...

The problem with much Christian worship in the contemporary world, Catholic and Protestant alike, is not that it is too entertaining but that it is not entertaining enough. Worship characterized by upbeat rock music, stand-up comedy, beautiful people taking center stage, and a certain amount of Hallmark Channel sentimentality neglects one classic form of entertainment, the one that tells us, to quote the Book of Common Prayer, that “in the midst of life we are in death.” It neglects tragedy. Tragedy as a form of art and of entertainment highlighted death, and death is central to true Christian worship. The...

Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley of Boston speaks at a press conference for the 2012 USCCB Fall General Assembly. Credit: Michelle Bauman/CNA. Boston, Mass., May 15, 2013 / 02:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley called the successful production of embryonic stem cells by cloning human embryos an “abuse� which ignores the dignity and value of the human person. “The news that researchers have developed a technique for human cloning is deeply troubling on many levels,� the archbishop of Boston, who chairs U.S. bishops' pro-life activities committee, said May 15. “Creating new human lives in the laboratory solely to...

We have no idea yet if Pope Francis is simply going to lead by words, exhortation, and example or if he is going to back up his words, exhortations and example by concrete directive and promulgations. We have had him for only two months or so and we're still trying to figure him out. He is clearly into the "reform of the reform" and moving forward with that, not backwards. However, for him it is not just a focus on the liturgy, but rather on the people of the Church beginning with bishops, priests and religious, in particular women...

Suppose, one day, you’re reading a historical account of life in Alaska in the 1920s and one of the main characters in the account is named Sting.“That’s surprising,� you think.Suppose that Sting is portrayed as married to a woman named Oprah.“That’s improbable,� you recognize.Then you read that Sting has a brother named Spock.You say to yourself: “Okay. Something is wrong here.�What is it? And what does all this have to do with the gospels?You might be surprised, but the names of the figures mentioned in the gospels actually provide evidence that they’re true.Here’s the story . . . The basic problem...

Michelangelo was asked the question how he could make a beautiful sculpture like his “Moses� out of a large block of marble. He famously answered that he simply began and chipped away everything that wasn’t Moses.And this is a paradigm for us, into senses.Clearly for us, the Lord must chip away everything in us which is not Jesus. Yes, everything that is not of the Lord must go. St. Paul said, “I live, no not I, Christ lives in me! (Gal 2:20). And thus, the Lord chips away at all in us that is not of him that we may...

An interview with Cardinal Kurt KochOn May 14, 1948, the British occupation of Palestine ended and the State of Israel was proclaimed. On the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the founding of that State, Oliver Maksan of the international Catholic charity “Aid to the Church in Need” (ACN) spoke with the president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, Cardinal Kurt Koch, about the current status of the Vatican dialog with Judaism. The original German-language interview was posted at the Austrian Catholic news website www.kath.net. English translation by Michael J. Miller with permission of Aid to...

Featured Term (selected at random):FAMILY ROSARY International movement promoting recitation of the Rosary by the members of a family at home. Encouraged by the popes, the practice was singled out for special recommendation by Pope Paul VI in his Apostolic Exhortation in 1974 on devotion to the Blessed Virgin. "There is no doubt," he declared, "that after the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, the high point which family prayer can reach, the Rosary, should be considered as one of the best and most efficacious prayers in common that the Christian family is invited to recite" (Marialis Cultus, 54)....

COLUMBUS, May 14, 2013 (LifeSiteNews) – The Central Ohio Association of Catholic Educators (COACE) is backing the diocese in its decision to fire a homosexual teacher, according to a letter sent to the teacher. Gym instructor Carla Hale, 57, was fired from her job at Bishop Watterson Catholic High School last month after an anonymous parent wrote to the Diocese of Columbus to complain that in an obituary for Hale’s mother, Hale was listed as a surviving family member together with her longtime lesbian partner, Julie.

Pray for priests and bishops, that they might not give in to the temptations of money and vanity, but serve the people of God. This was Pope Francis’ exhortation to the faithful at Mass this morning in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae residence in the Vatican, at which there was a group of Vatican Radio staff. Pope Francis’ homily took its starting point from the passage in the Acts of the Apostles, in which Paul exhorts the elders of the Church of Ephesus to watch over themselves and all the flock, to be attentive shepherds, and guard against...

In preparation for the Feast of Pentecost and in the context of the Year of Faith catechesis on the Creed, Pope Francis dedicated his Wednesday audience to the action that the Holy Spirit accomplishes in us, in guiding us to the Truth. He said “In this Year of Faith let us ask ourselves if we have actually taken a few steps to get to know Christ and the truths of faith more, by reading and meditating on the Scriptures, studying the Catechism, steadily approaching the Sacraments. But at the same time let us ask ourselves what steps we are taking...

“The ideologue does not know what love is, because they do not know how to gift themselves,” Pope Francis said during the mass he celebrated in the Sanctae Marthae residence this morning. The mass was attended by a group of Vatican Museum employees and some students of the Pontifical Portuguese College of Rome. As always, a summary of the Pope’s homily has been published on the Vatican Radio website. If we really want to follow Jesus - the Pope said – we must “live life as a gift” to give to others, "not as a treasure to be kept to...

May 15, 2013 Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 20:28-38 At Miletus, Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus:“Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flockof which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers,in which you tend the Church of Godthat he acquired with his own Blood.I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you,and they will not spare the flock.And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truthto draw the disciples away after them.So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night...

Please read and reflect on our little story about Pope Francis refusing to allow photo-ops to communicants guilty of public scandal. You may recall that, under different circumstances, this is exactly the issue which both Phil Lawler and I raised when USCCB President Timothy Cardinal Dolan invited both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to the Al Smith dinner last year (see, inter alia, The Al Smith dinner: the cardinal and the tax collector and Surprise, surprise: that photo op). Cardinal Dolan, you may also remember, expressed surprise that anyone would respond negatively to such public appearances.OK, I have a theory:Whether or not you “get” how the worldly-wise use...

I missed this the other day. On review, it is important enough to post about.Over at Fishwrap, the National Schismatic Reporter, there is an interview with the head of the LCWR, Sr. Florence Deacon, from 7 May, while she was at the international meeting in Rome of leaders of women religious. Sr. Deacon’s interview was after João Card. Braz de Aviz from the Congregation for Religious spoke to the meeting of the UISG, but before Pope Francis came and explained that “sentire cum Ecclesia” cannot be thought of apart from the Church and her hierarchy.The first part of Sister’s odd...

Pope Francis receives a postcard with a photograph of himself as a gift at the end of his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican May 8. (CNS photo) “The life of slumbering Christians is a sad life; it is not a happy life. Christians must be happy with the joy of Jesus. Let us not fall asleep!� — Pope Francis, General Audience, April 24, 2013. I. To read Pope Francis, we must not be too literal. When he talked, in a recent General Audience, of “slumbering Christians,� he was not waging a war against “slumber parties.�...

The Controversy Over the Third Secret: Objections and Responses | Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R. | Appendix D from Fatima For Today: The Urgent Marian Message of Hope The Third Secret has been dealt with in two chapters in this book. Chapter 8 presented the content of the Third Secret as Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta saw it revealed to them. Chapter 16 presented how Sister Lucia wrote the Third Secret on a separate manuscript and then placed it in a sealed envelope. The chapter also traces what popes John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II did after reading it. The...

Pope Francis sends a kiss to someone in the crowd at the May 8, 2013 general audience in St. Peter's Square. Credit: Stephen Driscoll/CNA. Vatican City, May 14, 2013 / 08:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Christians who buy into Satan’s temptation to live selfishly get swindled, while those who live life as a “gift� to others are immersed in love and the Church community, Pope Francis said. “And, we must say, with Satan the payback is rotten. He always rips us off, always!� the Pope emphasized as he contrasted the kind of selfish living that the devil promotes with the...

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi responds to a journalist's question about the Vatican's participation in Venice's International Art Festival. Credit: Stephen Driscoll/CNA. Vatican City, May 14, 2013 / 09:33 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican is participating for the first time in a famous international art exposition in Venice under the theme “Creation, Un-Creation and Re-Creation,� with the aim of promoting modern dialogue on faith. The 55th edition of Venice’s Biannual Art Festival, known as the “Biennale di Venezia� in Italian, will take place June 1 to Nov. 24 and will bring together exhibits from 88 different countries. The Vatican’s contribution will...

Featured Term (selected at random):MYSTICI CORPORIS CHRISTI Encyclical of Pope Pius XII, published in 1943, on the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ. The Church is a body because she is a visible, living, and growing organism, animated by the Spirit of God. She is a mystical body because her essential nature is a mystery, and all her teachings, laws, and rites are sacramental sources of grace. And she is the mystical body of Christ because he founded the Church. He remains her invisible Head and through him all blessings are communicated to her members, and through them to...

BOSTON COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT STATEMENT Cardinal Sean May 10, 2013 Because the Gospel of Life is the centerpiece of the Church’s social doctrine and because we consider abortion a crime against humanity, the Catholic Bishops of the United States have asked that Catholic institutions not honor government officials or politicians who promote abortion with their laws and policies. Recently I learned that the Prime Minister of Ireland, the Hon. Mr. Enda Kenny was slated to receive an honorary degree at Boston College’s graduation this year. I am sure that the invitation was made in good faith, long before it came to...

From a reader: Can my Bishop refuse to allow a priest from another diocese to say the TLM in our parish? Our priest needs someone to cover the Latin Mass during the summer and a priest from an another diocese volunteered to assist. Quite generous and magnanimous!However, apparently the bishop denied permission. Can he do that and if so why would he? Are some clerics that intimidated by the TLM? If so, why??? Are some clerics “intimidated� by the Traditional Latin Mass? Of course they are! What a question. And you know why.But that is not of the essence here.The...

Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria, patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, talks with Pope Francis during a private audience in the pontiff's library at the Vatican May 10. (CNS photo) Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II and Pope Francis fraternally addressed one another in an historic meeting, Friday, at the Vatican. May 10, 2013 marked the fortieth anniversary of a meeting between their predecessors, Pope Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III. This is the first time since that meeting that the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch has visited the Vatican. Blessed John Paul II also visited Pope Shenouda III in Egypt, February...

Good for Boston College for refusing to disinvite Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny as this Sunday’s graduation speaker after Cardinal Sean O’Malley basically told BC: It’s him or me. Well, BC chose Kenny. O’Malley’s staying home. Fantastic. On his blog, O’Malley chastised Kenny as a politician 
“aggressively promoting abortion legislation.” Hardly. In fact, Kenny is responding to outrage in Ireland over the death last year of a non-Catholic Indian woman who was miscarrying and bleeding heavily, went to the hospital, begged for help for three days but could not get an emergency abortion. She died of blood poisoning. Think about...