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July 17, 2015   Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Ex 11:10—12:14 Although Moses and Aaron performed various wondersin Pharaoh’s presence,the LORD made Pharaoh obstinate,and he would not let the children of Israel leave his land. The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,“This month shall stand at the head of your calendar;you shall reckon it the first month of the year.Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this monthevery one of your families must procure for itself a lamb,one apiece for each household.If a family is too...

Things Are Often Not as They Seem – A Lesson from the Life of Moses Msgr. Charles Pope • July 15, 2015 • We are currently reading the story of Moses in daily Mass. The story reminds us that not all things are as they appear, and that God’s ways are not our ways.Moses’ early years are marked with clear signs that he is gifted and chosen. Drawn from the water by Pharaoh’s own daughter, Moses’ very own mother is chosen to be his caretaker and is paid for that privilege by getting to live in Pharaoh’s palace. Pharaoh pays...

  July 16, 2015   Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Ex 3:13-20 Moses, hearing the voice of the LORD from the burning bush, said to him,“When I go to the children of Israel and say to them,‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?”God replied, “I am who am.”Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the children of Israel:I AM sent me to you.” God spoke further to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the children of Israel:The...

The head of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is weighing in on the firing of teacher from a Montgomery County Catholic school, who allegedly lost her job because of her same-sex marriage. Margie Winters says she lost her job as the religious education director at Waldron Mercy Academy because of her marriage to Andrea Vittori. More than 100 people gathered together in support Winters at General Wayne Park in Lower Merion Township on Sunday afternoon. "I'm here to support Margie and let her know what was done to her was unjust, discriminatory and unfair," said Anthony Arechavale, parent. "I think it's...

MERION STATION, PA, July 15, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – The homosexual partner of a woman fired from a Philadelphia-area Catholic school has written to Pope Francis asking for a meeting during the pope's U.S. visit, and for his intervention in the couple's situation so they will not be "condemned to live a life of exile from (the) Church."Pope Francis has been accused of sending confusing signs on the issue of homosexuality and the Church's teaching about it, and homosexual activists have frequently used him by claiming he supports their cause. But the pope has repeatedly criticized the homosexual agenda and gender...

There are lots of reasons why I decided, as an otherwise happy Evangelical Protestant, to become a Roman Catholic. Among these reasons were aesthetic and spiritual appeals—the beauty of the liturgy and the plethora of centuries old spiritual practices—and these were, indeed, powerful motivators. But alongside the sometimes esoteric motivations were some fundamentally, concretely intellectual reasons to join the ranks of the ancient Catholic Church. Chief among the intellectual appeals stand the towering figures of the Early Church Fathers. Christians who lived, and wrote, some of them contemporary with the writings of the New Testament. Many of them, in the...

“Neither the government nor priests can handle El Chapo” was a warning sent by Joaquin Guzman (El-Chapo) to what he considered his two biggest threats at the time: Christian priests and the government. To ensure he was taken seriously, the note accompanied two corpses: soldiers that he arranged to be killed so everyone gets the message: you need to fear the drug cartel of Sinaloa, especially the infamous El Chapo. The message was sent in response to Hector Gonzalez, the archbishop of the northern state of Durango, who raised fears of attacks on the clergy. Indeed, according to the Catholic...

Three Helpful Prayers from the Roman Missal for Those Living in Dark and Difficult Times Msgr. Charles Pope • July 14, 2015 • One of the great and often-missed moments in the Mass is the opening prayer, also known as the “collect.” It is called this because after priest says to the faithful, “Let us pray,” he waits a moment as they do so and then “collects” their prayers and directs them to God.Most of the collects (pronounced káh’-lects) are quite ancient and are minor masterpieces. They are succinct, like most of the prayers of the Roman Rite, and...

July 15, 2015   Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Reading 1 Ex 3:1-6, 9-12 Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian.Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb,the mountain of God.There an angel of the LORD appeared to him in fireflaming out of a bush.As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush,though on fire, was not consumed.So Moses decided,“I must go over to look at this remarkable sight,and see why the bush is not burned.” When the LORD saw him coming over...

July 13, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- If “actions speak louder than words,” as the saying goes, the message of Pope Francis on homosexuality is increasingly confusing. On the one hand, he has reiterated the Church’s teaching that marriage is reserved for one man and one woman, and has even repeatedly condemned gender ideology, the intellectual underpinning of the LGBT movement. However both in his deeds - most notably his choice of advisors and prelates to elevate to higher positions - and omissions he has left an impression in many minds that seems very different from the Church’s tradition.It is not...

July 14, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- There has been no shortage of anti-Christian rhetoric from various media outlets in the fallout from the Supreme Court decision decreeing homosexual "marriage" across the country. "Too many Christians, not enough lions," a derisive reference capitalizing on the Christians martyred in ancient Rome, was also how one LGBT activist responded to Catholic Vote's (CV) pro-marriage "Not Alone" video, according to CV President Brian Burch. Released the day of the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, the CV video logged more than 1.3 million views in the first 10 days. "Seeing the power of our message, LGBT activists...

Guess which ObamaCare case will be headed to the Supreme Court next? At least, that’s the option open for the Little Sisters of the Poor and their defense team at The Becket Fund for the restoration of a temporary injunction against compliance with the HHS mandate. The 10th Circuit handed the nuns a defeat this morning, vacating the earlier temporary injunction ordered by a lower court: Moments ago, in a departure from the U.S. Supreme Court’s protection of the Little Sisters of the Poorlast year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled that the Little Sisters...

It Happened, but It Wasn’t Holy or Helpful – Biblical Teaching Against Polygamy Msgr. Charles Pope • July 13, 2015 Given cultural trends and recent court decisions to redefine marriage, the move to accept and legalize polygamy and polyandry has intensified. For example, an essay at Politico declares, “It’s time to legalize polygamy.” Another article at Slate Magazine is entitled “Legalize polygamy.”Some are already coining the term “trouple” or “throuple” to describe “marriages” of three people (of any combination of sexes).Such moves are not unexpected and are sure to beginning coming through the courts and legislatures soon. Clearly, the Catholic...

July 14, 2015   Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin Reading 1 Ex 2:1-15a A certain man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman,who conceived and bore a son.Seeing that he was a goodly child, she hid him for three months.When she could hide him no longer, she took a papyrus basket,daubed it with bitumen and pitch,and putting the child in it,placed it among the reeds on the river bank.His sister stationed herself at a distanceto find out what would happen to him. Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the river to bathe,while her maids walked along the river...

The archbishop of Philadelphia said Monday that Roman Catholic school officials who fired a married gay teacher showed uncommon “character and common sense.” Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said the nuns and board members who run Waldron Mercy Academy are not seeking controversy, but simply following the church’s teaching. Chaput, in a statement, thanked school leaders “for taking the steps to ensure that the Catholic faith is presented … in accord with the teaching of the church. They’ve shown character and common sense at a moment when both seem to be uncommon.” …

How Do You Dress for Church? Some Helpful Encouragement from a New Video Msgr. Charles Pope • July 12, 2015 • 14 Comments I have written at length before on the issues of modesty and how we dress for Mass: http://blog.adw.org/2010/05/adore-the-lord-in-holy-attire-on-proper-dress-for-mass/http://blog.adw.org/2012/04/i-miss-women-wearing-hats-and-veils-in-church-a-brief-reminiscence-of-days-gone-by/http://blog.adw.org/2013/07/have-we-lost-reverence-in-church-these-days-how-can-we-recover-it/http://blog.adw.org/2010/02/modesty-is-reverence-for-mystery/http://blog.adw.org/2010/04/modesty-and-men/ Rather than repost all that commentary here, I would like to focus on a new video (thanks to Brandon Vogt and the other producers) that invites us to be more considerate about how we dress for Holy Mass. The video is quite balanced and presents a range of views. One man wears a tie, the other does not; one...

July 13, 2015 Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Ex 1:8-14, 22 A new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, came to power in Egypt.He said to his subjects, “Look how numerous and powerfulthe people of the children of Israel are growing, more so than we ourselves!Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase;otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemiesto fight against us, and so leave our country.” Accordingly, taskmasters were set over the children of Israelto oppress them with forced labor.Thus they had to build for Pharaohthe...

Catholic school on the outskirts of Philadelphia has come under heavy attack in recent days after firing an openly lesbian teacher in a same-sex civil marriage with her partner. Since 2007, Waldron Mercy Academy knew that teacher Margie Winters had been civilly married to her lesbian lover, but they kept her on as Director of Religious Education anyway for a total of eight years, under the advisement that she keep her relationship secret and not discuss it with students or parents. Though she kept the order, parents from the school eventually found out about Winters and complained to the school...

Five Fundamental Freedoms for the Christian Evangelizer Sarah Yaklic • July 11, 2015 One of the great obstacles to effectively evangelizing is that most Christians lack the requisite freedom and simplicity of life to carry forth the task consistently and coherently. In today’s gospel, the Lord offers some counsel on what is required to evangelize effectively.As we read a gospel like this, it is tempting to think that it speaks only of specialists such as missionaries, religious, priests, or deacons. But such a presumption forgets that everyone is called to evangelize: clergy to people, parents to children, elders to youngsters,...

July 12, 2015 Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Am 7:12-15 Amaziah, priest of Bethel, said to Amos,“Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah! There earn your bread by prophesying,but never again prophesy in Bethel;for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.” Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet,nor have I belonged to a company of prophets;I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me,Go, prophesy to my people Israel.” Responsorial Psalm Ps 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14 R. (8) Lord, let us...