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God and God Alone: A Homily for the 29th Sunday of the Year By: Msgr. Charles PopeThe Gospel today contains lots of interesting juxtapositions: hatred for Jesus but grudging respect for him,  real questions versus rhetorical ones, politics and faith, duties to Caesar and duties to God. The word  “juxtaposition” is from the Latin juxta (meaning “near”) and positio (meaning “place or position”). Hence juxtaposition is the placing of two things near to each other in order to see how they are similar and yet different.  In English, usually a juxtaposition emphasizes differences more than similarities.Let’s look at these one...

The Unheeded Secret " Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world —John 18:36 " The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation . . . . For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a hidden,...

Among the Biblical covenants of the Old Testament, the new covenant with Israel takes its place in importance with the Abrahamic and the Davidic covenants as determining the course and destiny of the nation Israel. In the study of premillennialism it is another important evidence for a future millennial kingdom in which its promises can find literal fulfillment.The Promises of the New Covenant with Israel The promises of the new covenant with Israel are among the most specific of the Scriptures. The major passage is found in Jeremiah 31:31-34: “Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a...

Today, Pope Francis beatified Pope Paul VI, who served the Catholic Church as the bishop of Rome 1963-1978. (“Beatification” is one step below being canonized a saint.) Paul VI had a jam-packed papacy, including finishing the Second Vatican Council, traveling to all six inhabited continents (a first for popes), and historic ecumenical break-throughs. But today he’s probably most remembered for his 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, which confirmed the Catholic Church’s long-standing teaching against contraception, abortion, and sterilization. Outside of the Catholic Church (and, unfortunately, by a large number of people within the Church as well), the teaching of Humanae Vitae...

Vatican City, Oct 18, 2014 / 04:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis' address at the conclusion of the Synod on the Family, delivered Saturday, was responded to with a four-minute standing ovation on the part of the bishops attending the Vatican meeting. In the Oct. 18 speech, the Pope thanked the bishops for their efforts, and noted the various temptations that can arise in such a synod setting. He encouraged the bishops to live in the tension, saying that “personally I would be very worried and saddened if it were not for these temptations and these animated discussions; this movement...

To be sworn to by all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors, and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries. I . . . . firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day. And first of all, I profess that God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world (see Rom. 1:19), that is, from the visible works of creation,...

The Key to the Missionary’s Devotion " . . . they went forth for His name’s sake . . . —3 John 7 " Our Lord told us how our love for Him is to exhibit itself when He asked, “Do you love Me?” (John 21:17). And then He said, “Feed My sheep.” In effect, He said, “Identify yourself with My interests in other people,” not, “Identify Me with your interests in other people.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 shows us the characteristics of this love— it is actually the love of God expressing itself. The true test of my love...

Pope Francis appeared to have lost out to powerful conservatives in the Roman Catholic church on Saturday after bishops scrapped language that had been hailed as heralding a historic opening towards gay people. In the final report of an extraordinary synod on the family which has exposed deep divides in church hierarchy, there is no mention – as there had been in a draft version – of the “gifts and qualities” gay people can offer. Nor is there any recognition of the “precious support” gay partners can give each other. A paragraph entitled “pastoral attention to people of homosexual orientation”...

Featured Term (selected at random:LUMEN GENTIUM Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, of the Second Vatican Council. Its purpose is declared to be twofold: to explain the Church's nature as "a sign and instrument of communion with God and of unity among all men," and to clarify the Church's universal mission as the sacrament of human salvation. A unique feature of the constitution is the Explanatory Note, added to the conciliar document by order of Pope Paul VI, clarifying the meaning of episcopal collegiality, that the community of bishops have no authority without dependence on and communion with the Bishop of...

The final report The final document of the Synod of Bishops is being written by Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdő, general relator of the summit; Italian Archbishop Bruno Forte, the synod’s special secretary, and Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, head of the Vatican’s office for the synod of bishops. It is expected to be presented early next week. Eight other synod members, with at least one representative from each continent, were additionally assigned to the document’s drafting committee, including Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl. The Extraordinary Synod of Bishops that is now coming to an end was called by Pope Francis to lay...

Hell’s Bible’s editorial on the SynodPosted on 18 October 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf At Hell’s Bible we find an editorial:Pope Francis Walks the TalkVatican Signals on Gays and Remarriage Are a Hopeful BeginningA half-century after the historic changes of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis is showing his intent to drive a comparably ambitious agenda for the Roman Catholic Church in the 21st century.The current synod of bishops in Rome, called by Francis to encourage reform and modernization, [ahhh... that's why he called it!] set a ringing tone of compassion this week with an opening call for a more...

This has been the most incredible week in my over 30 years of dealing with Catholic Church controversies and negligences on the life and family issues. Finally, many bishops are seeing the deceitful manipulations within the Church towards evil agendas and are heroically, fiercely, and very publicly acting to defend the Church from the wolves within. We are witnessing real men coming forward to lead. These are what we have always expected and hoped bishops would be, but have so infrequently seen in recent decades. For many of us, we have waited a long, long time for this. I pray...

Prayer to the Holy Family for the Synod  Jesus, Mary and Joseph, in you we contemplate the splendor of true love, to you we turn with trust.  Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that our families too may be places of communion and prayer, authentic schools of the Gospel and small domestic Churches.  Holy Family of Nazareth, may families never again experience violence, rejection and division: may all who have been hurt or scandalized find ready comfort and healing.  Holy Family of Nazareth, may the approaching (ongoing) Synod of Bishops make us once more mindful of the sacredness and inviolability...

"It is profoundly sad and scandalous that such remarks were made by a Cardinal of the Church."Late yesterday, Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, responded to questions sent as a follow-up to his October 14th interview with Catholic World Report. He confirmed that he is leaving his positiion as Prefect, remarked on the reactions against the Relatio released this past Monday, reflected on the importance of the texts issued by the ten small groups, and commented on the recent controversy over an interview given by Cardinal Walter Kasper of Germany. CWR: Not...

Late in life, St. Augustine issued his Retractationes, which may be translated, I believe, as either “retractions” or “re-treatments” of things he had written earlier. I’m going to do one of the latter. Yesterday, I reported that the Synod bishops voted – against the clear attempt by Cardinal Baldisseri, the leader of the Synod, to suppress the reports of the ten small language groups – that they should be published. That was not accurate. So let me “re-treat” the situation. With fuller information today, it seems to have gone like this: Baldisseri seems to have decided, on the spur of...

666 has meaning behind it. John the Revelator was Hebrew. He would have known that each Hebrew letter of the alphabet (which is a number too) has a meaning and/or symbol to it. In the scripture it was written as six hundred and sixty six. Not 666. I find the meaning of this is to be "in the end times, a head will emerge, Satan (snake), and will hook people into sin(disbelief in my book). Allow me to show you how it works by viewing this: I believe that the letters used to write six hundred and sixty six would...

There’s only one way to stop this. Cardinal Pell, it’s rumored today, stood up during the proceedings on Thursday when the Synod leaders seemed to have decided on their own authority not to publish the reports of the small groups, presumably because they were uniformly tough on what’s been too soft. He slammed his hand on the table and said, “You must stop manipulating this Synod.” That forced a general vote – and the reports were published. Robert Royal, The Catholic Thing Hattip to Father Z. One of the heroes emerging from the Synod is George Cardinal Pell. It is...

When I was a small boy, I was adopted. I grew up remembering nothing of my birth family and unaware that I had a biological sister, named Betsy. Many years later, I went in search of my biological family, but for Betsy it was too late: she had died. This is the story of how I was reunited with her — in Heaven. Before I start, I should explain that I am a scientist, who has spent a lifetime studying the workings of the brain. My adoptive father was a neurosurgeon and I followed his path, becoming an neurosurgeon myself...

VATICAN CITY — Inaccurate media reports about Church teaching on homosexuality published after the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family’s midterm relatio was released are an attempt to pressure the Church to change its perennial teaching, a cardinal who is also a synod father has said. Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, emphasized to CNA Oct. 16 that “what has been published by the media about homosexual unions is an attempt to push the Church [to change] her doctrine.” “The Church has never judged homosexual persons, but homosexual behavior and homosexual unions are grave deviations...

A half-century after the historic changes of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis is showing his intent to drive a comparably ambitious agenda for the Roman Catholic Church in the 21st century. The current synod of bishops in Rome, called by Francis to encourage reform and modernization, set a ringing tone of compassion this week with an opening call for a more welcoming attitude toward gay people, unmarried couples, divorced Catholics who remarry, and children in these unions. The bishops’ report on their first week of private discussions did not immediately change church doctrine. But it signaled the pope’s determination...