Free Republic

Men and the Liturgy – Thoughts on a Recent Survey Msgr. Charles Pope • August 18, 2015 • A recent study of more than 1400 Catholic men from over 1000 parishes indicates a substantial disconnect from the Church and a dissatisfaction with what the Church offers and how she ministers to men. The survey was conducted in the fall of 2014 and an analysis of the results was published by Matthew James Christoff, Director of The New Emangelization Project (Helping Priests Become More Effective in Evangelizing Men).It is clear that “men” are not monolithic; they have a range of views...

“‘Thine is the dominion, O Lord, and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from Thee, and Thou dost rule over all’” (1 Chronicles 29:11-12). Trust God, who controls everyone and everything. In Daniel 6, King Darius chose 120 princes to help him govern his kingdom. Over the princes he appointed three presidents, with Daniel being the first president. The princes and other two presidents were jealous of Daniel, so they devised a scheme against him. They told the king that he should make a law requiring every person to make his requests only...

"[Love] does not seek its own" (1 Cor. 13:5). Love transforms selfish people into self-sacrificing people. From the time of Adam and Eve, replacing God with self has been at the root of all sin. Our first parents had only one restriction: "From the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17). But Eve believed the serpent's lie that God was trying to keep her from realizing her full potential (Gen. 3:5). She ate the forbidden fruit, gave some to Adam,...

August 19, 2015   Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Jgs 9:6-15 All the citizens of Shechem and all Beth-millo came togetherand proceeded to make Abimelech kingby the terebinth at the memorial pillar in Shechem. When this was reported to him,Jotham went to the top of Mount Gerizim and, standing there,cried out to them in a loud voice:“Hear me, citizens of Shechem, that God may then hear you!Once the trees went to anoint a king over themselves.So they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’But the olive tree answered them, ‘Must I give up...

“The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it” (Psalm 24:1). God owns everyone and everything. One day when John Wesley was away from home, someone came running to him, saying, “Your house has burned down! Your house has burned down!” Wesley replied, “No, it hasn’t, because I don’t own a house. The one I have been living in belongs to the Lord, and if it has burned down, that is one less responsibility for me to worry about.” John Wesley viewed his material possessions from a biblical perspective, for Scripture makes...

"[Love] does not act unbecomingly" (1 Cor. 13:5). Considerate behavior demonstrates godly love and adds credibility to your witness. When I was a young child, I loved to slurp my soup. I didn't see any harm in it even though my parents constantly objected. Then one evening I ate with someone who slurped his soup. He was having a great time but I didn't enjoy my meal very much. Then I realized that proper table manners are one way of showing consideration for others. It says, "I care about you and don't want to do anything that might disrupt your...

“For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death” (vv. 35–36). - Proverbs 8:22–36 Lady Wisdom’s call in Proverbs 8 for all who are listening to heed her instruction has inspired generations of Christians to reflect on the wise sayings of the book of Proverbs and apply them diligently to their lives. The text has also been at the center of some of the most important theological debates in church history. First Corinthians 1:30 tells us that Christ Jesus is our “wisdom...

August 18, 2015   Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Jgs 6:11-24a The angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth in Ophrahthat belonged to Joash the Abiezrite.While his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine pressto save it from the Midianites,the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said,“The LORD is with you, O champion!”Gideon said to him, “My Lord, if the LORD is with us,why has all this happened to us?Where are his wondrous deeds of which our fatherstold us when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring...

It is that time of week again, where we talk about the Mary, the Mother of God. This is definitely the single most important title that Mary has. If someone gets this wrong, then they get the Divinity of our Lord wrong, and that means the whole plan of Salvation is just messed up. So let us look at this most important title. Theotokos, God-bearer in Greek, is what the council of Ephesus declared in 431. It specifically says this “If anyone does not confess that God is truly Emmanuel, and that on this account the Holy Virgin is the...

“Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver” (vv. 18–19). - Proverbs 8:12–21 How valuable are the lessons that Lady Wisdom can teach to her subjects? No one (except the Lord), Lady Wisdom tells us, can calculate the value of what she reveals. Far more valuable than silver, choice gold, or jewels, no inheritance can be greater than divine wisdom (Prov. 8:10–11, 19). In fact, pursuing Lady Wisdom is the only way to be sure of receiving an inheritance. Those who love her...

O Lord our Lord, there is none like Thee in heaven above or in the earth beneath. Thine is the greatness and the dignity and the majesty. All that is in the heaven and the earth is Thine; Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, O God, and Thou art exalted as head over all. Amen. When we speak of God as transcendent we mean of course that He is exalted far above the created universe, so far above that human thought cannot imagine it. To think accurately about this, however, we must keep in mind...

IT IS VITAL TO ANY UNDERSTANDING of ourselves and our fellowmen that we believe what is written in the Scriptures about human society, that it is fallen, alienated from God and in rebellion against His laws. In these days of togetherness when all men would brothers be for a' that, even the true Christian is hard put to it to believe what God has spoken about men and their relation to each other and to God; for what He has spoken is never complimentary to men. There is plenty of good news in the Bible, but there is never any...

“To me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). True contentment is found only in Christ. There has never been a society in the history of the world that has had as many commodities as Americans have. We are living in affluence that is unheard of in the world’s history. The key philosophy behind it all is this: only as you accumulate enough assets to satisfy your particular lifestyle can you really be happy. Sad to say, Christians have bought into that philosophy. Now, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with commodities, but it is wrong to think...

"Love . . . is not arrogant" (1 Cor. 13:4). Love is the key to effective ministry. In 1 Corinthians 13:4 Paul says, "Love does not brag and is not arrogant." We often equate bragging and arrogance, but in this passage there is a subtle difference. The Greek word translated "brag" emphasizes prideful speech or actions; "arrogant" emphasizes the attitude of pride motivating those actions. The prideful attitudes of the Corinthians were evident in several areas. In 1 Corinthians 4:18-21 Paul says, "Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you...

August 17, 2015   Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Jgs 2:11-19 The children of Israel offended the LORD by serving the Baals.Abandoning the LORD, the God of their fathers,who led them out of the land of Egypt,they followed the other gods of the various nations around them,and by their worship of these gods provoked the LORD. Because they had thus abandoned him and served Baal and the Ashtaroth,the anger of the LORD flared up against Israel,and he delivered them over to plunderers who despoiled them.He allowed them to fall into the power of their...

If you are a Christian, you are radically free. No, I don’t mean you are free with a number of ifs, ands, and buts. I mean you are really free. No disclaimer. No addendum. No qualifying points. You are free.I didn’t say it, Jesus did: “‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free….So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed’” (John 8:31-32,36). Freedom is a gift from the Son of God. If he says I’m free, that ought to settle...

“‘No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon’” (Matthew 6:24). The believer is to serve God, not riches. When reading Matthew 6:24, many people say, “I believe that you can serve two masters. I work two jobs.” The reason they say that is they don’t understand the Greek word translated “serve.” It refers not to an employee in an 8-to-5 job but to a slave. A slave is one who is constantly and entirely devoted...

"Love does not brag" (1 Cor. 13:4). Love exalts others; pride exalts self. Most of us shy away from people who have an inflated view of themselves or place themselves at the center of every conversation. Yet perhaps you too struggle with the temptation to spend most of your conversations talking about yourself. Even if you would never openly brag about yourself, might you at times secretly resent others for not acknowledging your accomplishments? That's the subtlety of pride. Boasting always violates love because it seeks to exalt itself at the expense of others—to make itself look good while making...

     In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Brothers and sisters, today is the Procession of the Cross which we celebrate on the first of August, and also the holy Maccabean martyrs with their teacher Eleazar and their mother Solomonia. And we read today about the Cross in two readings, both because of the feast of the Procession and also because of the martyrs, because the martyrs followed the way of the Cross. Now St. Paul has two famous phrases that are in one of the epistles we read today—a very misunderstood phrase....

August 16, 2015 Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Prv 9:1-6 Wisdom has built her house,she has set up her seven columns;she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine,yes, she has spread her table.She has sent out her maidens; she callsfrom the heights out over the city:“Let whoever is simple turn in here;To the one who lacks understanding, she says,Come, eat of my food,and drink of the wine I have mixed!Forsake foolishness that you may live;advance in the way of understanding.” Responsorial Psalm Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 R. (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.I will...