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Q: A friend is going to marry a man whose previous marriage was annulled… he says he was able to get an annulment because his wife was against having children and took contraceptives. Does that mean every Catholic marriage is invalid if the couple is contracepting? –Marisa A: No. It’s impossible to determine the exact grounds for the annulment of the marriage which Marisa describes, based solely on the information provided here. Nevertheless, we can examine the reasons why contraception might have been a pivotal factor in proving the nullity of this marriage.

Q: Could you please explain what "ratum sed non consummatum" means with respect to marriage? I always thought that this was an antiquated term that no longer had any relevance, but recently I encountered it [in a current context]… Why would it matter to the Church whether a marriage has been consummated or not? –Fiona A: The Latin phrase ratum sed non consummatum is translated literally as “ratified but not consummated,” and it has been used by theologians and canonists in regard to matrimony for many centuries. These four Latin words actually contain a wealth of information about the way...

Q: My neighbors are Catholics who didn’t practice the faith for years, but now they are returning to the Church. Their children were never baptized, so they went to the parish priest to arrange for their baptism. But he refused, because he said the children are too old! He claims the children are mature enough to decide for themselves if they want to be Catholic or not…. The whole thing sounds bizarre. The parents truly want to raise their children as Catholics. Is it possible the priest doubts their sincerity? What can they do? –Rachel A: It’s impossible to be...

  Look for wisdom while it can still be found. Call for it while it is near. Do you want to know how near it is? The word is near you, in your heart and on your lips, provided that you seek it honestly. Insofar as you find wisdom in your heart, prudence will flow from your lips, but be careful that it flows from and not away from them, or that you do not vomit it up. If you have found wisdom, you have found honey. But do not eat so much that you become too full and bring it...

From a letter of Conrad of Marburg, Saint Elizabeth's spiritual director From this time onward Elizabeth’s goodness greatly increased. She was a lifelong friend of the poor and gave herself entirely to relieving the hungry. She ordered that one of her castles should be converted into a hospital in which she gathered many of the weak and feeble. She generously gave alms to all who were in need, not only in that place but in all the territories of her husband’s empire. She spent all her own revenue from her husband’s four principalities, and finally she sold her luxurious’ possessions...

The treatise of St John Eudes on the kingdom of Jesus We must strive to follow and fulfil in ourselves the various stages of Christ’s plan as well as his mysteries, and frequently beg him to bring them to completion in us and in the whole Church. For the mysteries of Jesus are not yet completely perfected and fulfilled. They are complete, indeed, in the person of Jesus, but not in us, who are his members, nor in the Church, which is his mystical body. The Son of God wills to give us a share in his mysteries and somehow...

I remember my drill seargent saying,"I'm your mother, your father, your brother, your sister, AND your girlfriend!" So, it seems true for the Archbishop! Read more...

The treatise of St Fulgentius of Ruspe on the forgiveness of sins In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye as the final trumpet sounds, for the trumpet shall indeed sound, the dead shall rise incorruptible and we shall be changed. In saying “we,” Paul is indicating that the gift of that future change will also be given to those who during their time on earth are united to him and his companions by upright lives within the communion of the Church. He hints at the nature of the change when he says: This corruptible body must put on...

A commentary of St Augustine on Psalm 95 Then all the trees of the forest will exult before the face of the Lord, for he has come, he has come to judge the earth. He has come the first time, and he will come again. At his first coming, his own voice declared in the gospel: Hereafter you shall see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds. What does he mean by hereafter? Does he not mean that the Lord will come at a future time when all the nations of the earth will be striking their breasts in...

Today's Office of Readings A sermon of St Leo the Great Although the universal Church of God is constituted of distinct orders of members, still, in spite of the many parts of its holy body, the Church subsists as an integral whole, just as the Apostle says: We are all one in Christ. No difference in office is so great that anyone can be separated, through lowliness, from the head. In the unity of faith and baptism, therefore, our community is undivided. There is a common dignity, as the apostle Peter says in these words: And you are built up...

A letter of Sulpicius Severus Martin knew long in advance the time of his death and he told his brethren that it was near. Meanwhile, he found himself obliged to make a visitation of the parish of Candes. The clergy of that church were quarrelling, and he wished to reconcile them. Although he knew that his days on earth were few, he did not refuse to undertake the journey for such a purpose, for he believed that he would bring his virtuous life to a good end if by his efforts peace was restored in the church. Continue reading on...

Pope Pius XI's encyclical "Ecclesiam Dei" In designing his Church God worked with such skill that in the fullness of time it would resemble a single great family embracing all men. It can be identified, as we know, by certain distinctive characteristics, notably its universality and unity. Continue reading on Examiner.com The Divine Office: He gave his life for the unity of the Church - Norfolk Catholic | Examiner.com

Don't Forget Your Godly Ancestry! James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Last week, a rare archaeological discovery was made in Northern Israel. Archaeologists discovered a ½ meter statue of Hercules which they say was dated to the second century. In Greek mythology, Hercules was the son of the Greek god Zeus, and the mortal mother Alcmene – the wisest and most beautiful of all mortal women. Hercules was said to surpass all mortal men in strength,...

Bogor's mayor has a new reason not to allow the Yasmin church to open: the name of the street on which it is built bears an Islamic name.

President George W Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down, according to a senior Pentagon official.

Israeli civilians are unprepared for nonconventional attacks, warned prominent members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Tuesday afternoon, blasting the defense establishment for ignoring calls to fix the situation. According to Steinitz, between four million and five million gas mask sets are currently sitting in warehouses awaiting distribution. The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee has already threatened sanctions against the defense establishment if it does not hand out the equipment.

Iran said on Friday it did not expect an attack from Israel or the United States triggered by the long-running dispute over its nuclear programme. "The possibility of such an attack (from Israel or the U.S.) is almost zero," Mottaki said, via a translator, in an interview with Turkish broadcaster NTV during a visit to Turkey. However, when asked whether it meant Iran was ready to freeze any expansion of its nuclear programme in return for the U.N. Security Council halting further sanctions measures against it, the source said "not at all".

"Iran now has a clear choice to make: suspend its nuclear program and accept our offer of negotiations or face growing isolation and the collective response not of one nation but of many nations," Brown was expected to say. "Just as we have led the work on three mandatory sanctions resolutions of the United Nations, the U.K. will continue to lead - with the U.S. and our European Union as partners - in our determination to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapons program," the excerpts said. After talks in Geneva ended in a stalemate on Saturday, the six major powers gave...

In today’s edition of Time, there was an interesting analysis of the potential problems of an Israeli strike on Iran.

Suddenly within the past month, it feels like we’re returning to the Cold War. It’s obvious that the Russians are quite annoyed by the attempts of the U.S. deploying a missile shield in Eastern Europe — the former backyard of the Russians.