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Clearing up Confusion with Today’s Gospel on the Temple Tax Msgr. Charles Pope • August 13, 2017 • The Gospel for today’s Mass (Monday of the 19th Week) is likely confusing to anyone who hears it proclaimed in the United States because the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE), used for the lectionary in this country, makes what I would argue is an inaccurate translation of the Greek text. Here is the passage in question (the crucial section is presented in bold italics):When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Doesn’t your...

Fix Your Focus – A Homily for the 19th Sunday of the Year Msgr. Charles Pope • August 12, 2017 • The Gospel today is about faith and about focus. It teaches that although storms and struggles inevitably arise, we have a choice as to whether we focus on them or on Jesus. The message is clear: “Keep your eyes on the prize. Hold on!”Let’s look at this Gospel in three stages: Perceived Distance, Produced Distress, and Point of Decision. I have also included a fourth section for more in-depth study: Process of Development.I. Perceived Distance – The text...

Wolfgang Huber, former Council President of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), believes in a "breakthrough" at the communion of Protestants and Catholics to the Ecumenical Church Day of 2021. "I can not imagine that we will celebrate this church day without A breakthrough has been achieved in the area of ​​Eucharistic hospitality, "said the former bishop of Berlin in the interview of the" Weser-Kurier "(Saturday). Until the event in Frankfurt am Main 2021 something must move. "Machistort des Papstes" less promising According to Huber, the next steps in the Eucharist and the Lord's Supper will be "decentralized". "My feeling...

When Argentina was on the verge of redefining marriage in 2010, then-cardinal Bergoglio blasted out with all his canons (pun intended) on full enfilade. In the coming weeks, the Argentine people will face a situation whose outcome can seriously harm the family[.] ... At stake is the identity and survival of the family: father, mother and children. At stake are the lives of many children who will be discriminated against in advance, and deprived of their human development given by a father and a mother and willed by God. At stake is the total rejection of God's law engraved in...

The Bishops of Venezuela Appeal to Our Lady for Deliverance from Maduro From Francis, Only Silence by Christopher A. Ferrara August 11, 2017 Francis and Maduro: Happy together? “Will Venezuela be Francis’s downfall?” That provocative question is posed by Monica Showalter in an important article at the American Thinker blog. There is no arguing with her opening line: “The world’s first Latin American pope isn't exactly covering himself with glory as the hellfire of Venezuela immolates that God-forsaken nation.” There has been nothing but silence from Francis as the socialist tyrant Nicolás Maduro oppresses the Venezuelan people and destroys the...

Epic Imagaery Question: I was in a conversation with several unbelieving college friends who dismissed the Bible as unreliable and merely mythical because it presumes the existence of monsters like Leviathan and fiery dragons. I wasn’t sure how to answer them. — Name withheld, Massachusetts Answer: Leviathan is a name of a large beast in the Old Testament. The term seems to be used both symbolically and also literally to refer to actual beasts in the sea. For example, in Psalm 104 we read, “There is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small...

The Brazilian Bishops’ Conference allows in new guidelines on Amoris Laetitia the reception of Holy Communion by adulterers, reports cruxnow.com. The bishops write that after a process of discernment “limited cases” may return to the sacramental life. As examples the bishops list the existence of children or “certain moral circumstances” which according to the bishops allegedly “annul the moral responsibility of unlawful acts”. These rules invented by the bishops contradict the words of Jesus Christ and the teaching of the Church.

Summary The Council of Nicea is often misrepresented by cults and other religious movements. The actual concern of the council was clearly and unambiguously the relationship between the Father and the Son. Is Christ a creature, or true God? The council said He was true God. Yet, the opponents of the deity of Christ did not simply give up after the council’s decision. In fact, they almost succeeded in overturning the Nicene affirmation of Christ’s deity. But faithful Christians like Athanasius continued to defend the truth, and in the end, truth triumphed over error. The conversation intensified quickly. “You can’t...

If You Truly Want to Have Something, Lose It – A Mediation on the Economics of the Kingdom Msgr. Charles Pope • August 10, 2017 • St. Lawrence Distributing Alms, Fra AngelicoThe Feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr, contains an important teaching on the economics of the Kingdom of God. As you might guess, they are quite paradoxical. The teachings come to us both through St. Lawrence’s life and the particular readings selected for his feast.When a persecution broke out in Rome in 257 A.D. (under Valerian), the Prefect of Rome suspected that the Church had a great...

The world's first Latin American pope isn't exactly covering himself with glory as the hellfire of Venezuela immolates that God-forsaken nation. Fact is, he's been remarkably silent about the socialist communist disaster engulfing that country, not using the sharp language he is known for whenever he expresses displeasure about the United States, as William McGurn notes in this first-class essay, which is probably his best.

A couple weeks ago (HERE) the Wile E. Coyote of the catholic Left, Michael Sean Winters of the Fishwrap sniggered with fellow lib Massimo “Beans” Faggioli about converts.  To quote Winters: I am so tired of converts telling us that the pope is not Catholic. Typical. Converts don’t have the right to say anything because they’re converts.Now Austen Ivereigh has a piece at CRUX (why the KCs pay for this rubbish is beyond me) against converts who disagree with him.  He tries to be soooo nuanced, soooo sophisticated in his condescension.FAIL.

On Supplication for your Enemies In the papal office are gathered the Pope, Fr Antonio Spadaro S.J his communications confidant and Fr Arturo Sosa Abasca S.J, head of the Jesuits worldwide. There, at a time when they are under a considerable storm of fierce criticism, with only the praise of Catholic dissidents and the admiration of secular activists for consolation, four years into the pontificate of Pope Francis, the three gather in order to make supplication for their enemies and by invocation ask for guidance for themselves and the Church. Pope Francis: Brethren, I have convened this meeting of supplication...

Recently I wrote about the hermeneutical principle of trusting what the Bible plainly says - in other words, a literal interpretation of Scripture and letting Scripture interpret Scripture.  It is my belief that if Christians adhered to this principle there would be few if any divisions in the Church.  Approaching Scripture with a certain humility is also important.  We should tremble at God's Word, not act as though we are the masters of it.  Don't assume you've figured it all out because none of us have.  The strongest evidence I see demonstrating that someone knows the Scriptures inside and...

As a psychiatrist, the recent false accusations from Rome against faithful Catholics reminds me of couples preparing to divorce. False accusations of hostility, divisiveness and hatred occur not infrequently in marriages with high levels of conflict and with impending separation or divorce. When of an extremely severe nature, such anger can lead to demonizing a spouse in an effort to undermine the trust of the children in that spouse and to obtain their loyalty instead. This pathological behavior is referred to as parental alienation and is clearly psychologically damaging to Catholic youth, spouses and families. Spouses who make false accusations against...

A Warning About Sloth in a Story from the Old Testament Msgr. Charles Pope • August 9, 2017 • This week in daily Mass we are presented with a vivid portrait of the sin of sloth and its effects:A critical moment has arrived for the people of Israel. Having seen the Egyptian army defeated at the Red Sea, they have now crossed the desert in a short period of time, perhaps a matter of months. It is now time to enter the Promised Land and savor its “milk and honey.” This is the Land that God had promised them...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: The Glory of Saint John Francis Regis | Church of Our Lady of Andance, Ardèche, France | Camillo RusconiSaint John Francis Regis Saint of the Day for June 16 (January 31, 1597 – December 30, 1640)  Saint John Francis Regis’ Story Born into a family of some wealth, John Francis was so impressed by his Jesuit educators that he himself wished to enter the Society of Jesus. He did so at age 18. Despite his rigorous academic schedule, he spent many hours in chapel, often to the dismay of fellow seminarians who were concerned...

1. A breakthrough study from the Institute of Crystallography in Italy has just confirmed that the image of the man on the Shroud of Turin is composed of real blood and in fact a microscopic analysis of blood particles reveals that the blood had to come from someone undergoing torture.  This just further confirms the possible authenticity of the Shroud (see here). 2. Using a recently developed X-ray imaging technology, archaeologists were able to read the inside of a biblical scroll that was covered in ash during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD.  The results?  The current manuscripts...

Beware the Sins of the Pious - A Reflection on the Ways Satan Uses Even Good Things to Entrap Us Msgr. Charles Pope • August 8, 2017 • What is temptation? It is the work of Satan to drag you to Hell. He can read you like a book, play you like piano. Do not exaggerate his power—but do not underestimate it either.Some of Satan’s subtlest work is done in the area of religious observance. There, he can cloak himself in the lamb’s clothing of piety, but, wolf that he is, distort it through excess or defect, thereby destroying...

Which Do You Prefer: Melons and Leeks, or the Bread of Heaven? Msgr. Charles Pope • August 7, 2017 • The first reading for daily Mass on Monday (18th week of the year) was taken from the Book of Numbers. It features the Israelites grumbling about the manna in the wilderness:Would that we had meat for food! We remember the fish we used to eat without cost in Egypt, and the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now we are famished; we see nothing before us but this manna (Numbers 11:4-5).While it is easy...

In a July 14 article, responding to queries about Building a Bridge, his new book on the Catholic-LGBT divide, Father James Martin, SJ explains why he did not devote more space to explaining the Church’s teaching on same-sex relations and marriage. The positions of both sides, he says, are clear, and neither side regards them as negotiable. He continues: Theologically speaking, you could say that these teachings have not been “received” by the L.G.B.T. community, to whom they were directed. So I intentionally did not focus on those topics, since not only are those teachings well known, but they are...