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January 12, 2013 Saturday after Epiphany   Reading 1 1 Jn 5:14-21 Beloved:We have this confidence in himthat if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask,we know that what we have asked him for is ours. If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly,he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin,about which I do not say that you...

Everything is relative. So as you cut yourself loose from the Law of God, in any concept whatsoever, you also soon are cutting yourself loose from a strict constructionism and each ruling is to be seen as an arbitrary choice by a group of people as to what they may honestly think is for the sociological good of the community, of the country, for the given moment. Now, along with that is the fact that the courts are increasingly making law and thus we find that the legislatures' powers are increasingly diminished in relationship to the power of the courts....

The Pope Was Right All Along by Russell Shaw on January 11, 2013 ·  The disruptive results for individuals and society spawned by the revolution in attitudes and behavior regarding sex, marriage, family, and childbearing that erupted a half-century ago have become too obvious to ignore. These things were predictable–in fact, some people actually predicted them from the start–but by now their impact has grown so painfully apparent that even secular voices are being raised in alarm.The problems are increasingly visible in the United States. They include an aging population with fewer young workers to support the elderly, along...

And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.( Genesis 5: 21-24)We have been examining the two contrasting lines which developed from among Adam’s children. Cain, the world’s first will worshipper and murderer, set out “east of Eden”, away from the presence of the Lord, to inaugurate a new start for mankind, the city of “Enoch”,...

Susan Jacoby, an author and atheist wrote a column in last Sunday’s New Your Times entitled “The Blessings of Atheism.” In it she proposes that atheism has a lot to offer, especially in times of tragic loss and that it frees human beings from having to ask and answer difficult question. As you may imagine, I am not so sure that asserting a question can be avoided means that it has actually been avoided, or that what she calls blessings are in fact blessings.I would like to excerpt her article and make a few comments. Her original writing is in...

The next pope is very likely to be African according to Paddy Power, Ireland’s leading bookmaker, who has come out with a list of “papabile,” those considered papal material. The list comes at a time of increased health problems for Pope Benedict, who, at 85, has begun using a cane and is appearing more frail. Favorite is Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria, who is 15/8 (bet eight to win fifteen), while in second place is Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana at 9/4. That’s two top Africans in the top two spots according to the bookmaker’s odds. In third place in...

A Malaysian Sultan has issued a fatwa prohibiting non-Muslims from using the word "Allah" in Arabic. The Sultan of the Malaysian state of Selangor, Sharafuddin Idris Shah, issued the prohibition on Tuesday, according to the Lebanon Debate newspaper. Malaysian media have reported that the prohibition has been put in place by the Islamic leader because it is a "sacred word," and should be reserved exclusively for Muslims, according to MidEast Christian News. The sultan has ordered the Islamic Council of Selangor and the Islamic Affairs Department in the state to take strict action against all groups that question the fatwa...

Anglican leaders in Africa have expressed their outrage over the Church of England's decision to approve gay bishops in its order, saying that the decision could put an end to hopes of healing broken relationships in the Communion. Archbishop Nicholas Okoh of Nigeria, one of the world's largest provinces of the Anglican Communion with 17 million members, said that the affirmation of gay bishops "could very well shatter whatever hopes we had for healing and reconciliation within our beloved Communion," Reuters reported. Okoh added that the Church of England has given into "the contemporary idols of secularism and moral expediency,"...

Roy Bourgeois, the former priest who was excommunicated in 2008 and dismissed from the Maryknoll society last year, has been formally notified of his laicization. Bourgeois received a letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, relayed through his former Maryknoll superiors, notifying him of his dismissal from the society and from the priesthood. The Vatican asks Bourgeois to sign the letter, acknowledging receipt—which he says he will refuse to do. Bourgeois was excommunicated in 2008 after he participated in a ceremony in which women claimed ordination. He had repeatedly refused to reconsider his stand, and had remained...

Q: I read in a news article that Pope Benedict said he would resign, if he reached the point where he couldn’t physically handle being Pope any longer. Is that even possible? Can a Pope ever resign? —Scott A: It’s true that in the nearly eight years of Pope Benedict’s reign, more than one news article has been written on this subject. It’s of particularly keen interest to those opposed to his teachings, who would gladly see him leave the Throne of Peter as soon as possible—but it’s of interest to many of the rest of us as well, if...

A tribute to the man who is Schall“Father Schall cares about where you’re from and how you’re doing. He doesn’t need to do that, but he does. The greatest professor I’ll ever have knows my name.”— Victoria Edel, former student of Father James Schall “What, in the end, does a professor most want his students to remember? Not himself but what is true and the search for it. Above all, he wants them to remember the Socratic foundations of our culture, that ‘it is never right to do wrong,’ that death is not the worst evil, that ultimately our lives...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation 34 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” 36 At the...

Featured Term (selected at random):ALEXIANS Religious institute of brothers, founded in the fourteenth century in Brabant and re-established in 1854. Their apostolate is to care for the sick, direct hospitals and homes for the aged and poor, and administer cemeteries. There are also Alexian Sisters doing similar work. The patron is St. Alexis of Edessa (d. 430). All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C., the president of the University of Notre Dame, has a piece in The Wall Street Journal pleading for civility in debate. This is not the first time that Fr. Jenkins has used that word. In fact, calls for “civility” have become something of a hallmark of his presidency of the University. In recent years, there have reportedly been on-campus panel discussions on civility, a University forum called “A More Perfect Union: The Future of America’s Democracy,” and posters urging students to take the “Notre Dame Pledge for Virtuous Discourse,” which encourages students to engage in respectful...

After Michelangelo and Raphael, the Vatican’s latest official painter is something of an unusual choice-an ebullient Russian woman with a pet owl who is a regular at the court of cardinals and popes. An Orthodox believer in the heart of Roman Catholicism, Natalia Tsarkova paints her classical-style portraits in a flat filled with Vatican memorabilia by the walls of the Holy See. “I like the atmosphere here, I feel needed,” Tsarkova told AFP in an interview in a studio with several unfinished works and back copies of the Vatican’s official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano. It is dream come true for this...

VINA, Calif. — The rebirth of a medieval Cistercian monastery building here on a patch of rural Northern California land was, of course, improbable. William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper tycoon, brought the dismantled Santa Maria de Óvila monastery from Spain but failed to restore it. The City of San Francisco, after some fitful starts at bringing the monastery back to life, left its stones languishing for decades in Golden Gate Park. The Great Depression, World War II and lethargy got in the way. But an aging and shrinking order of Cistercian monks have accomplished what great men and cities could...

Honor the Lord with Your Body Today's Scripture “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:20, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Scripture says that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and we are to honor the Lord with our bodies. How do you do that? You take care of it. You respect it. You treat it as valuable. You use your body to bring Him glory. When you stand strong against temptation, you are honoring the Lord with your body. When you take care of yourself by...

What My Obedience to God Costs Other People "As they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon . . . , and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus" —Luke 23:26 If we obey God, it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the pain begins. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything— it is a delight. But to those who do not love Him, our obedience does cost a great deal. If we...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem A New Journey…The Names of God in The Scriptures The Living GodDaniel 6:20 And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?"

The tragic Newtown shooting has led to renewed calls for gun control by Conservative and Reform Jewish leaders, who have highlighted this as a religious issue (“As Jews, we must act against gun violence — now,” op-ed, Dec. 21). These emotional reactions are understandable, but their one-sided presentation of Jewish tradition fails to distinguish between the requirements of the real world and our hopes for the messianic age. Jewish tradition speaks both to defense preparation and the need for_training and safety with the best tools available, firearms, which are susceptible to misuse in the wrong hands. Exodus 13:10 tells us,...