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The Call of Lent: Prayer, Fasting, and AlmsgivingThomas Moses For many Eastern Christians, Lent is embraced as a time for the renewal of repentance, fervent seeking after God, and increased love and concern for our neighbor. After a few weeks of preparation for Lent (also known as the Great Fast) we begin this period of bright sorrow, a forty day period leading up to Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and finally Pascha, Easter, or the Feast of all Feasts.I say bright sorrow because joy and sorrow are kept in tension. We experience sorrow because of the suffering endured by our Lord...

For roughly one thousand years, it was the Bible of Western Christendom. It was the version to which European Christians turned to compose their prayers and liturgies, that great saints consulted in their meditations, and that the greatest scholars quoted in their treatises.ItÂ’s harder to think of a translation of the Bible that has had more staying power than St. JeromeÂ’s Latin version, known as the Vulgate, which was completed late in the fourth century and held sway over the Church through the Council of Trent, in the mid-1500s. Of course, the Vulgate is not the work of Jerome...

“Purgatory shows God’s great mercy and washes away the defects of those who long to become one with Him.” – St. Josemaria Escriva When is the last time you heard a homily on purgatory? If your parish is like most, it’s been a very long time. Getting more personal, when is the last time you prayed for the Holy Souls? If you’re like many Catholics, the answer is not recently. The souls in purgatory are too often forgotten by Catholics, and I fear this is often out of a misguided desire not seem medieval (as if that were a...

Legitimate succession was always a matter of concern in biblical religion. The book of Genesis is careful to give the lineage of the patriarchs, from the first man, Adam, to Noah (Gen. 5). The book of Exodus takes similar care as it sets down the priestly generations (Exod. 6). The Chronicles make clear that the monarchy was legitimately passed from father to son (1 Chron. 3). Indeed, the Old Testament histo­ries assure us that “all Israel was enrolled by genealogies” (1 Chron. 9:1). This article is from the Catholic Viewer’s Guide to AD: The Bible Continues (airs Sundays at...

In Harm’s Way: The Forgotten Service of Military Chaplains George J. Galloway In Otto Preminger’s 1965 classic movie In Harm’s Way, starring John Wayne as “Rock Torrey” and Kirk Douglas as “Commander Paul Eddington,” there’s an interesting dialogue that ensues after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the subsequent return of the cruiser Swayback to the lagoon-shaped sanctuary, now burial ground for thousands of American sailors, in Oahu. It’s a direct reference to a famous quote from John Paul Jones: “I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm’s...

On the eve of His death, knowing that He was about to depart from His friends, Jesus said to them: “Remain in Me, as I remain in you.” How would that be possible?Gospel (Read Jn 15:1-8) Our reading today comes from a section of St. John’s Gospel that is often called “the Last Supper discourse.”   After He washed the disciples’ feet, Jesus spoke at length with them in a most serious manner. This was straight talk; no more parables. We should be keenly interested in every word He had to say.He begins with a dramatic statement: “I am the...

“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”Chartres is the cathedral of cathedrals, and here is the parable of parables. Nothing is wanting in the other parables. All are from the lips of the Lord. As one’s taste in a certain mood might prefer Cologne or Siena to Chartres, so one might prefer to make a point with the parable of the lost sheep or...

Q: A Baptist friend asked me, “Why do we call priests ‘Father’ when Jesus told us not to call anyone on earth ‘father?'” How would you answer this question?This question refers to Jesus’s teaching found in the Gospel of St. Matthew, when He said, “Do not call anyone on earth your father. Only One is your Father, the One in heaven” (Mt 23:9). Taken literally, we would have to wonder why we do use this title “Father” when Jesus seems to forbid it. First, we must remember the context of the passage. Jesus is addressing the hypocrisy of the...

Our Lady’s Request: Pray for the Dying! R. Jared Staudt“Pray, pray very much. Make sacrifices for sinners. Many souls go to hell, because no one is willing to help them with sacrifice.”-Our Lady of Fatima, July 13, 1917Today is the anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady at Fatima, Portugal. It is also the anniversary of the assassination attempt on Pope St. John Paul II, when Our Lady of Fatima intervened at what seemed the moment of his death to save his life.This is fitting as Our Lady at Fatima appealed to us to assist those at the...

Easter VigilSeven OT Readings: Gen 1:1—2:2; Gen 22:1-18; Exod 14:15—15:1; Isa 54:5-14; Isa 55:1-11; Bar 3:9-15, 3:32—4:4; Ezek 36:16-17a, 18-28.When my friend went to the Easter Vigil for the first time and started hearing the many readings, he thought for a moment that they were going to read the whole Bible! At Easter, we might expect a lot of New Testament texts, but instead the Church presents us with seven Old Testament readings and eight responsorial psalms. That’s 15 Old Testament texts in one sitting—talk about an Old Testament extravaganza! Interestingly, on Easter morning, zero Old Testament texts are...

It is available in abundance to everyone if only we would embrace it. It is an endless and unfathomable gift that flows most profusely on the Sunday after Easter. It is the devotion of the Divine Mercy and it offers each of us a wonderful chance to begin anew through the Divine Mercy Chaplet Novena. Begun on Good Friday and completed on Divine Mercy Sunday, this powerful novena offers us a chance to change our lives forever! It is also a powerful way to intercede for our loved ones and the entire world by bringing all before the merciful...

 Mercy and Confession: 10 Tips on How to Confess Well by Fr. Ed Broom on July 23, 2013 ·  In the context of an Ignatian retreat it is always beneficial to prepare oneself to make an excellent Confession. To make a good confession demands prior preparation!  The better the prior preparation, the more abundant the graces and the more overflowing the river of peace in your soul! Following are ten short helps to make the best confession in your life!1.    IMPROVEMENT/UPGRADING THE RECEPTION.  As Catholics two of the most important actions we can accomplish are to go to Confession and to receive...

Ten Tips for the Best Lent Fr. Ed Broom God gives in abundance, always, in all times and in all places! His goodness manifests itself most abundantly in His Mystical Body, the Church and concretely in the Church Liturgical Year.The two strong times of the year are Advent, which culminates in Christmas, and Lent which culminates in Holy Week and in the Risen Lord Jesus. To experience the fullness of the Paschal Mystery—the passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus—we must live with generous heart and openness of spirit the season of Lent. Lent is both a gift and a Season...

Obamacare Mandate in Deep Trouble PoliticsMarch 28th, 2012 Keith Koffler The Obamacare health insurance mandate appears to be teetering on the edge of being struck down by the Supreme Court, as the only potential swing justices – Anthony Kennedy and Chief Justice John Roberts – expressed deep skepticism that the government’s power to compel commerce could be limited once it can force you to purchase insurance.Kennedy appeared deeply skeptical until the end, when he gave proponents of the mandate some hope by suggesting health care may be a unique case.Here’s a concise analysis by Lyle Denniston, author of SCOTUSblog: If Justice...

“Same Sex Marriage” and Its Threat to Religious Liberty November 29th, 2008 by Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse Tactics used by gay marriage campaigners confirm believers’ worst fears. As wildfires blazed in California last week, anger at the outcome of the state’s referendum on marriage blazed across the country. After a hard-fought campaign over Proposition 8, which defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman, a clear majority of California voters endorsed it, and the gay marriage lobby was enraged. Now, as same sex marriage campaigners take the issue back to the courts, it is unclear what the...

James Fitzpatrick has a good article on this question over at Catholic Exchange... "Would the late Russell Kirk think of Ann Coulter as a positive force in the conservative cause? It is not an easy question to answer. Kirk died in 1994, well before Coulter took center stage. Everyone knows her now. She is the willowy blonde queen of the wisecracking, populist brand of conservatism in vogue on the talk shows these days. She is also a best-selling author, with several books to her name. She once described the 9/11 widows who have become prominent critics of the war in...

by Fr. Paul Scalia Other Articles by Fr. Paul Scalia Truth or Consequences 08/26/06 Our Lord’s beautiful Bread of Life discourse does not end on a happy note. In response to His teaching, many “of [His] disciples who were listening said, ‘This saying is hard; who can accept it?’” (Jn 6:60). It is the only instance in the Gospels of people rejecting our Lord’s teaching in such large numbers. “Many of His disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied Him” (Jn 6:66). They left because they could not accept our Lord’s teaching on the Eucharist. More...

During His earthly life and in His small area of the world, our Lord was what we moderns would call a celebrity. Scripture tells us that crowds came to Him from all over — crowds so great that they blocked the streets and doorways (Mk 2:2) and so demanding that He and His Apostles could not even eat (Mk 3:20). Knowing how insistent and unruly crowds can be, we can easily imagine that people must have pushed in upon our Lord, bumping and jostling one another and Him. Some surely came for reasons of faith of devotion. But human...

Summary of Church TeachingAccording to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, parents are “those first responsible for the education of their children.”[1] The education of children includes not only preparation for future employment, but also preparation to be moral and virtuous adults. The Catechism notes further that it belongs to parents to raise their children according to parental values and beliefs, and “to choose a school for [their children] which corresponds to [the parents’] own convictions.” Schools thus act in furtherance of the parents’ role as educators.As the Second Vatican Council noted in the Declaration on Religious Liberty, “The civil...