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The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is a "satanic terrorist group." Those were the words of Cdl. Kurt Koch of Germany on Tuesday at the International Ecumenical Congress held in his country near Stuttgart. The German cardinal, one of the few remaining orthodox prelates in Germany, told his audience it's wrong to believe violent persecutions of Christians are a thing of the past. Instead, he pointed out how there are plenty of martyrs for the Faith today, specifically because of ISIS. "In about 25 countries Christians are under threat of life and limb," observed Cdl. Koch. Hence, it is...

Have you ever been in a discussion with a skeptic about God and morality? Perhaps you've admirably made the case that God's good character is the basis for human dignity and worth. Maybe you've shown how objective moral values and duties can't be explained naturalistically. Then someone takes the wind out of your sails by asking, "Well, if God is so good, why would He command Israel to engage in ethnic cleansing and genocidal warfare against the Canaanites? After all, doesn't Deuteronomy 20:16-17 plainly state this? 'Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving...

Dëvar Torah – Parashath Va-Yétzé' (Genesis XXVII, 10 -- XXXII, 3)Our parasha tells the story of Ya'aqov's ("Jacob's") sojourn with his uncle and father-in-law, Lavan. As we read at the end of last week's parasha (XXVII, 42 -- XXVIII, 9), Rivqa ("Rebecca") persuaded Ya'aqov to flee to her brother in Charan both to escape from the wrath of his brother 'Esav and to find himself a proper wife. Just as Avraham had opposed the marriage of Yitzchaq to any daughter of the depraved Canaanites (XXIV, 3), so too did Rivqa consider any such prospect repugnant.When Ya'aqov arrived in Charan,...

How to Draw Your Children Back to the Church – A Reflection on a Wonderful New Resource Msgr. Charles Pope • November 19, 2015 • One of the more common heartaches people express to me is that their adult children no longer attend Mass or have any relationship with the Church. Many of these parents sent their children to Catholic School and brought them to Mass every week. Yet despite these efforts, many of these young adults were drawn away from the Church by the lure of the secular world, often during their college years or shortly thereafter.It was typically...

(I was unable to post yesterday, here is both yesterdays and today's offering) Recognizing Satan's Reality (18 November 2015) I once asked a college philosophy class, "How many of you believe in God?" Out of thirty students, twenty-seven raised their hands in the affirmative; three abstained. Then I asked, "How many of you believe in Satan as a personal reality?" This time the vote was reversed. I pursued my inquiry. I asked, "Why do you believe in a supernatural being who has the capacity to influence us for good (God) and not in a supernatural personal being who has the...

Pondering Pride, the Most Perilous of All Sins Msgr. Charles Pope • November 18, 2015 • Pride is a sin that is so pervasive, and that runs so deep within us, we often don't even sense it is there. Not only is it is a sinful drive in itself, it also plays a role in every other sin we commit. It is the sin we most share with Satan and all the fallen angels. Satan refused to serve God or to submit to His plan, and these are strong tendencies in every human person as well. Satan planned his strategy...

If you continue in my Word, then you will be a disciple of mine, and you will know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free”.John 8:32One of the side effects of the turbulent events of the last twenty years, is that we in the West have been acquiring quite an expanded vocabulary, particularly of Arabic words. For example we all now know what Jihad is, also Al Taqqiya, Jizya, Ayatollah, Imam, Mosque, the Shihad. We wouldn’t want to sign a Hudna, but we are proud to be called a Kifir.If you aren’t careful some crazy Imam will put...

This is what African cardinal Robert Sarah maintains in his book "God or Nothing" and in the discussion that has followed. An exclusive preview of his remarks in the next issue of "L'Homme Nouveau" ROME, November 19, 2015 - In the four jam-packed pages of the dossier that the French Catholic magazine "L'Homme Nouveau" is about to publish in its next issue, the word "synod" does not occur even once. Much less does one find cited there the "Relatio finalis" that the synod fathers have delivered to the pope. And yet the topics addressed in the dossier include the most...

In a comment elsewhere, someone wondered about differences between Catholics and Lutherans.  HEREI cannot go into deep detail about these differences.  Books can be written about each point, and have been.Here are my lunch break reflections while the US Bishops are having lunch during their annual meeting.Keep in mind that I am a former Lutheran convert to the Catholic Church.  I was validly baptized as a Lutheran.  I rejected the Lutheran catechism and instruction when I was 7 years old because I couldn’t square their message about corruption with the beauty of the music of Mozart.  After a vaguely Christian time and a...

A Word of Encouragement in One of Jesus’ Stranger Sayings Msgr. Charles Pope • November 17, 2015 • It is one of the stranger dialogs that occurs in the Gospel, and it is hard not to rejoice in Jesus’ aplomb. We read it last week in daily Mass.In it, some Pharisees, likely disingenuous, approach Jesus, warning Him to leave immediately: Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you. Probably more for their ears than Herod's, Jesus responds,"Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third...

Jeremiah 8 English Standard Version (ESV) 4 "You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: When men fall, do they not rise again? If one turns away, does he not return? 5 Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return. 6 I have paid attention and listened, but they have not spoken rightly; no man relents of his evil, saying, "What have I done?" Everyone turns to his own course, like a horse plunging headlong into battle. 7 Even the stork in the heavens knows her times, and...

"If the right hand doesn't get you, then the left one will." This maxim expresses the double jeopardy faced by a prizefighter in the boxing ring. Like the ambidextrous pugilist, our adversary, Satan, has a two-pronged strategy. To defeat him, we must wage war on two fronts. The tactic is simple. He conquers by spreading disinformation about himself. He divides the church by creating two myths, two erroneous views of his own identity: The first is that he is a myth. The second is that he is as powerful as God. The first deception from Satan about Satan is that...

Bookends: How the First and Last Books of the Bible Fit Together Msgr. Charles Pope • November 16, 2015 • Today's post shows some contrasts and fulfillments between the first book of the Bible, Genesis, and the last book, Revelation. There is a kind of “bookend” quality to those books wherein things are announced or initiated in Genesis and then fulfilled or finished in Revelation.Consider the following two lists. I pray that you will appreciate the parallels and paradoxes presented in them, especially during the months of November and December, when we consider the four last things and the culmination...

Here we go again. Pope Francis has offered some confusing observations about the possibility of Lutherans receiving Holy Communion in the Catholic Church.I'm getting email… angry… alarmed… confused… sad… above all demoralized.Edward Pentin has the best press breakdown I have seen so far. HERE You can read the whole of the answer that the Pope gave to a Lutheran woman Anke de Bernardinis. Here's the video of the whole event in the original language, Italian. The part under discussion here starts at 21:00:Here below are the Pope's comments in context (Pentin's working translation): Question: My name is Anke de Bernardinis...

Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the day whereof I have spoken. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: (Ezekiel 39:8-9)At long last the Day of the Lord comes near, the long dreaded and anticipated “Cloudy and rainy Day”, the Day of gloom and deep darkness, the time of Jacob’s trouble, also...

All Christians Are Called To Pray Without Ceasing By St. Nikolai Velimirovich "Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart" (Luke 18:1). Does the Lord's command about ceaseless prayer that men ought always to pray (Luke 18:1), apply only to monks or to all Christians in general? If it applied only to monks, the Apostle Paul would not have written to the Christians in Thessalonica to "pray without ceasing" (I Thessalonians 5:17). The Apostle repeats the Lord's command, word for word, and issues it to...

Certainly this new Vatileaks season prompts us to reflect on the way Pope Francis is carrying out his reform. Three years after the first big Vatileaks episode, it seems that the same old Vatican world that opposed Benedict XVI is still alive and active behind Pope Francis. The only difference is that this world elected Pope Francis. Pope Francis owes his election to it. We should look back to Benedict XVI's reform in order to understand the basis on which Pope Francis' reform is grounded. The issues have remained the same. Pope Francis perhaps is trying to overcome them through...

How to Discuss Same-Sex “Marriage” With Dissenting Family Members Msgr. Charles Pope • November 15, 2015 • I was out on the preaching circuit this past week and spoke at five parishes (including my own) on the biblical vision of Holy Matrimony (marriage) as set forth by God and the Church. The talks were sponsored by the pro-life group Defend Life.While I cannot succinctly reproduce the talk in today's blog, I spoke from notes that are available here and here. A video of one of the talks will be posted soon.I heard a consistent concern voiced by those in attendance...

As a Man of Mercy, I do feel compassionate towards those Catholics who express to me anxiety that our present Holy Father may not be the lawful occupant of the See of S Peter. But I re-reiterate: no Catholic can with a good conscience decide for himself/herself that the See of Rome has become vacant through heresy. The Church, in some formal and corporate way, would need either to depose a heretical pope (thus, S Cajetan; John of S Thomas) or to declare that he had himself through heresy already forfeited the See (thus, S Bellarmine, Turrecremata). DIY is no...

The Pope tells Lutheran woman to 'talk to the Lord' in discerning whether or not to participate in CommunionPope Francis has suggested a Lutheran spouse of a Catholic should "talk to the Lord" in discerning whether or not to receive Holy Communion with her husband. Francis made the remark during a Q&A at a visit to Rome's Evangelical Lutheran church on Sunday. During the visit he presented the church's pastor with the same chalice he had given the Archbishops of Washington, New York and Philadelphia while in the United States. The Pope was asked whether a Lutheran and Catholic married...