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Sweet Hour of Prayer! Or Not? How do You Experience Prayer? Msgr. Charles Pope • August 9, 2018 • How do you think of prayer? Is it another thing you “have to do” among many other things on your list? Or is prayer a time when you refrain from doing? Is prayer a requirement you regret or a rest you relish? What is prayer for you?The danger in answering questions like these is that we may answer them the way we think they “should” be answered rather than in an honest way. Many struggle with prayer and experience it...

Franciscan Media Image: Portrait of Edith Stein in the student chapel of the Hochschulgemeinde Wien im Edith-Stein-Haus | photo by Braveheart Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross Saint of the Day for August 9 (October 12, 1891 – August 9, 1942)  Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross’ Story A brilliant philosopher who stopped believing in God when she was 14, Edith Stein was so captivated by reading the autobiography of Teresa of Avila that she began a spiritual journey that led to her baptism in 1922. Twelve years later she imitated Saint Teresa by becoming a Carmelite, taking the...

VATICAN CITY, August 7, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) — Those who criticize the teaching of Pope Francis on the basis of former magisterial documents are not faithful to the tradition of the Catholic Church, a high-ranking Vatican official has said.  In an interview with Vatican News, to mark the 25th anniversary of the promulgation of Veritatis Splendor — Pope John Paul II’s 1993 landmark encyclical on certain fundamentals of the Catholic Church’s moral teaching — Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, said “there is no foothold for challenging the magisterium of Pope Francis in the light...

In Loud and Strident Times, the Sacred Liturgy Can Restore Us to Balance Msgr. Charles Pope • August 8, 2018 • One of the most concise and cogent descriptions of these often-strident times came from Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger in 1986. It is contained in, of all places, his treatise on the theology of sacred music in a book called The Feast of Faith (Ignatius Press, 1986). His comments have recently been republished in a larger compendium of his works: Collected Works: Theology of the Liturgy (Ignatius Press, 2014, Vol 11).It hard to describe our times as anything but contentious....

Franciscan Media Image: Stained glass | St. Dominic sends out the Friars | photo by Lawrence, OP | flickr Saint Dominic Saint of the Day for August 8 (August 8, 1170 – August 6, 1221)  Saint Dominic’s Story If he hadn’t taken a trip with his bishop, Dominic would probably have remained within the structure of contemplative life; after the trip, he spent the rest of his life being a contemplative in active apostolic work.Born in old Castile, Spain, Dominic was trained for the priesthood by a priest-uncle, studied the arts and theology, and became a canon of the...

Today, someone sent me the latest column at First Things by American Catholic writer and papal biographer George Weigel, entitled “WYD-1993: The Turning Point.” I am not, in general, a fan of Weigel’s work, which I find by turns dull and frustrating — often both. This column is no exception, and yet it serves as a potent illustration of something very much worth talking about: that so-called “Conservative Catholicism” is illusory — a self-imposed, often starkly tone-deaf deception designed to maintain an incredibly destructive lie: that the Catholicism you’ve been given your whole life is the real thing, and therefore,...

This week I have seen three separate proposals for the creation of a commission that would investigate the American bishops’ responses to the sex-abuse scandal. Unfortunately all three have serious flaws. Cardinal Donald Wuerl has suggested that the US bishops’ conference could set up a special commission for the task. It is, frankly, difficult to take this suggestion seriously. The problem is that the US bishops’ conference has lost all credibility on this issue. A new commission, set up by the bishops’ conference, would have zero credibility from the start.“Bishops alone investigating bishops is not the answer,” recognizes Bishop Edward Scharfenberger of...

Most of the commentators on Pope Francis’ attempt to declare the death penalty immoral per se recognize that his utter novelty is a blatant contradiction of Sacred Scripture (both the Old and New Testaments) and the constant teaching of the Church for two millennia.  A few, however, such as this one, argue that Francis’ revised § 2267 of the Catechism of John Paul II is merely “a distressingly ambiguous text which will certainly tend to create an impression of rupture,” but that “it need not be read that way.”Really? But where is the ambiguity? According to Francis, quoting only himself...

The former lead singer of ‘The Police’ tells the Register he is grateful for his Catholicism, shares his love for Latin and sacred music, and says he hasn’t ruled out one day coming back to the Sacraments. Despite reaching the lofty heights of fame and success in the entertainment industry, the English singer, songwriter and actor Sting has never forgotten his Catholic roots and says he remains “grateful” for his Catholicism which is “linked” to his music. Speaking to the Register in Rome July 28, the former lead singer of the rock band ‘The Police’ reveals his particular love for...

A Prophetic Tour in the Land of Ruin Msgr. Charles Pope • August 7, 2018 • At Mass for Tuesday of the 18th Week of the Year, we read from one of the later chapters of Jeremiah the Prophet, who wrote during the time of the Babylonian exile. He serves as a kind of “tour guide” through a land of ruin, one that seems all too familiar to us today.The Northern Kingdom of Israel had been destroyed by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. The Southern Kingdom of Judah, ignoring numerous warnings and calls to repentance, later experienced the same...

The Bergoglian twist on capital punishment appears to have rattled the neo-conservative cage like nothing else has over these last sixty-four months of modernist mayhem. Some, it seems, are coming to terms with the cold hard reality that Francis (as he wishes to be known) is most certainly a heretic; so much so that some are even willing to say so aloud.It is a rude awakening indeed for these folks; the same that have been ever so careful to avoid the “H” word when speaking of Amoris Laetitia; a text that didn’t seem to disturb their peace nearly as much...

Franciscan Media Image: Saint Cajetan \ sculptor: Pedro Alonso de los Ríos Saint Cajetan Saint of the Day for August 7 (October 1, 1480 – August 7, 1547)  Saint Cajetan’s Story Like most of us, Cajetan seemed headed for an “ordinary” life—first as a lawyer, then as a priest engaged in the work of the Roman Curia.His life took a characteristic turn when he joined the Oratory of Divine Love in Rome, a group devoted to piety and charity, shortly after his ordination at 36. When he was 42 he founded a hospital for incurables at Venice. At Vicenza,...

Abortion is completely legal only in three places in Latin America: Cuba legalized the practice in 1965, followed by Mexico City in 2007 and Uruguay in 2012. Argentina, like the majority of countries in the predominantly Catholic region, bans abortion almost entirely. Since 1921, a pregnancy may be terminated only if it is the product of rape or if it endangers the woman’s life or health. Abortion under any other circumstance can result in one to four years in prison for both the woman and the doctor who performs it. That may soon change. On August 8, Argentina’s Senate will...

Who Was Jeremiah the Prophet? Msgr. Charles Pope • August 6, 2018 • Jeremiah, Santa Maria in Trastevere, RomeGod called Jeremiah a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall (Jer 1:18); a tester and refiner of metals, a tower and fortress (Jer 6:27); a man through whom He would speak against false prophets and shepherds who mislead their sheep. Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? (Jer 23:29) Jeremiah would be the voice of that word. Hated and feared by many, yet secretly sought by...

John MacArthur has stated that one can take the mark of the beast, worshiping Satan and his image, and still be saved. The Bible says the exact opposite. He is exposed here as condemning himself unwittingly. His friend and partner Phil Johnson of Grace to You along with Chris Rosebrough of Pirate Christian Radio and Fighting for the Faith also join in condemning MacArthur. This is the fruit of personal favoritism; blind irrationality. John MacArthur propagates a damnable false teaching that is simply a lie. His sycophants Phil Johnson, Todd Friel, Justin Peters, etc. have all defended him saying that...

Franciscan Media Image: Stained glass window, Mielno, Poland | photo by Tineau Transfiguration of the Lord Saint of the Day for August 6  The Story of the Transfiguration of the Lord All three Synoptic Gospels tell the story of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-9; Luke 9:28-36). With remarkable agreement, all three place the event shortly after Peter’s confession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah and Jesus’ first prediction of his passion and death. Peter’s eagerness to erect tents or booths on the spot suggests it occurred during the week-long Jewish Feast of Booths in the fall.According to...

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article was first published at OnePeterFive in October 2015 under the pen name “Benedict Constable.” Due to some controversy (the nature of which need not be gone into here), the article was taken down, but not before it had reached a large number of readers and received praise as one of the most helpful responses yet penned to the present crisis in Church authority. The author has extensively revised the article for republication, benefiting from the feedback of a number of readers, including church historians and dogmatic theologians. It is also being published...

By Breaking a Wooden Yoke, You Forge an Iron Yoke! Msgr. Charles Pope • August 5, 2018 • This Monday is the feast of the Transfiguration, which means that we missed reading a powerful passage from the Book of Jeremiah that was otherwise assigned to Monday of the 18th week of the year. It is practical, profound, and sweeping in its implications, and it comes to us from the Lord through the mouth of Jeremiah the Prophet:By breaking a wooden yoke, you forge an iron yoke! (Jeremiah 28:13)Rather than looking at the historical meaning (i.e., that God was going...

Franciscan Media Image: Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome | photo by Gary Ullah from UK Dedication of Saint Mary Major Basilica Saint of the Day for August 5  The Story of the Dedication of Saint Mary Major Basilica First raised at the order of Pope Liberius in the mid-fourth century, the Liberian basilica was rebuilt by Pope Sixtus III shortly after the Council of Ephesus affirmed Mary’s title as Mother of God in 431. Rededicated at that time to the Mother of God, St. Mary Major is the largest church in the world honoring God through Mary. Standing atop one...

Deathgate I can't see much point in making substantive comments on the "changes made to the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) on the death penalty" until the new text is published. All I can so far find on the Internet are some vernacular versions. . This, in itself, I object to. The world has been given the impression that the Catholic Church has changed its teaching when nobody has the wherewithal to judge whether or not this is true. I can only call this sort of behaviour in  matters of faith and morals disgracefully frivolous. Can...